This Hopeless Devotion
by shipatfirstsight
Summary: Caroline is a servant in Lord Niklaus' home in the 1500's… but she is more than that to him. Katerina puts a dent in their secret and forbidden romance though, and Caroline is lost to Klaus for centuries. Will they ever be together?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Caroline is a servant in Lord Niklaus' home in the 1500's… but she is more than that to him. Katerina puts a dent in their secret and forbidden romance though, and Caroline is lost to Klaus for centuries.**

**And this randomly popped into my head… I will continue it in future, but not until I finish My Saving Grace, but I had to get the idea out of my head.**

**Klaroline**

**Rated M **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

It wasn't fair Caroline decided. Why did "Lady Katerina Petrova" have any more right to Lord Niklaus than she did? Why could he court _her_ ("It's not real, love. All will be clear in time.", but his assurances did nothing to ease her mind) and have to continue to bed her each night in secret? He was a vampire (yes, Caroline knew though she was still human; the price of sleeping with a vampire. And he refused to compel her.), couldn't he do what he wanted?

Apparently not, because her she was in the kitchens as she always was, listening to the other servants gossiping about how their lord was quite infatuated, and sure to make a proposal soon. _Bah! _

Little did they know of the person he slept with night after night; who held power over him to an extent. Before she had gone to work here, he would sleep with a different girl every night. The servant's would remove the poor girl's body the next morning to be burned. Not since her, though. It was she every night that he called to his chambers, her who pleasured him as he pleasured her. His beautiful sunlight girl.

He assured her night after night that he felt nothing for the Petrova whore, as she had taken to calling her in her mind (she was toying with three men, who were actually vampires; not a smart move); that it was only her that would keep him coming back. She was a bit possessive though; he was hers, and she did not appreciate that he was leading Katerina on. She knew that she could have no future with Nik; she was a servant, after all, but still she wished she could. It wasn't like he would ever actually marry her though. But she loved him. Oh what he did to her! How her very beliefs had gone the moment he had pressed her against that wall and ravished her mouth in ways that she had never been able to dream of, let alone hope of experiencing for herself.

And then he had ravished her body, over and over again. She had thought she would die that night, especially when he sunk his fangs into her neck; he did not hurt her though, and as soon as he had had his fill, he had given her _his_ blood to heal her. Never, in any of the stories or wild rumors, had this ever happened. He, all-powerful man that he was, had cared for her, a mere human girl that no boy in her village had ever looked twice at. He had sent her away after he was sure that she was healed, and she was sure that that was the end of their short-lived affair, that she would complete her year tenure her and be sent back home, and she was so saddened by that thought. She had been walking past his chambers, on one errand or another, when an arm had shot out of his door and pulled her inside. Pressed her to the door; he had done the same thing as the night before, made love to her, almost drained her, and then healed her, but this time he hadn't sent her away. She had fallen asleep and woken up in his arms, and he had made love to her again, this time without feeding on her. If her father ever found out that she had given into him so easily, that she had brokered no complaint to him using her for her body and feeding off of her… well, she would no longer be considered his daughter. She had let the enemy, the vicious monster of lore, take away what she was supposed to hold sacred. She would do it again, though, given the chance.

After that, he would come and collect her every night; if anyone were around he would compel them to forget that he had taken Caroline to his chambers. Sometimes he made love to her, sometimes it was rough animalistic sex, and sometimes he just held her and they talked about how their day had gone. And she had slowly realized that she was in love with him. He insisted that she call him Nik when they were in private; he would not have her calling him milord, or Niklaus, or even Klaus. He never told her why, but he insisted and she obeyed. She knew that at any moment he might snap and end her life; she hoped though that he might one day come to love her, as she had for him, not that she ever told him. Caroline was controlling by nature, and she would not let him know how far the power he had over her went. It wasn't like he needed an ego boost any way.

Everything had been fine, she had been assured that he at least cared for her, and then Katerina had showed up at his birthday party. _The party I wasn't allowed to attend, _she thought bitterly. She loved him and knew how excited his birthday made him, the one day that was all about him. She had wanted to be a part of it; not that she voiced these opinions to him ever. Instead, she had waited for him to come and collect her so she could give him his birthday present (her, and a leather necklace she had fashioned herself), but he never came. She had heard Martha, the head of staff, gossiping the next day to Susan, the chef, that a girl of exquisite beauty had caught his eye. She thought that this must be the end of their time together, that he didn't even have the courage to face her and tell her that is was over. She was angry at herself for thinking she could ever be more than a mistress to him; he probably thought her a wanton, unworthy of his attention past sating his needs, and now he had found someone acceptable, so he had no further use for her.

To her surprise, he had come for her that night. She tried to resist him, she really did, but he knew how to use that tongue to his advantage, and he soon had her undressed on his bed, hovering over her eyeing her chest before her senses came back. "Wait—wait!" She exclaimed, trying to push him off of her as he latched onto one of her breasts as he kneaded the other one. She arched her back in pleasure, but dammit she would not be treated like a common whore! "Nik stop it!" Caroline shouted, pushing him harder. She was no match for his strength and still he pulled back momentarily to look at her with lust filled eyes.

"What Caroline?" He asked so huskily that she almost dropped the subject right there and begged him to take her from the desire that it caused. She couldn't though; she had to at least say her peace.

"I thought you met a suitable girl at your party last night. You have no further use for me." She said, contempt clear in her voice as she glared at him.

To her further annoyance, he chucked at her, his hands still roaming her body despite her multiple attempts to slap them away. "Sweetheart," He breathed against her breast once more, "Surely you must know that I want no woman but you. Katerina is a means to an end." Then he flipped them over, letting her straddle him, and she voiced no further complaints; that didn't stop them from raging inside her head, though, especially not when she had seen Katerina.

She had run downstairs quickly the next morning to get him his birthday present (when she had told him that she had one, a gleeful expression had crossed his face; sometimes he was such a child) and on coming back had almost run into Katerina. "Excuse me, milady." She voiced as she dropped into a curtsey, as contrite as she could.

"Yes well don't let it happen again." The girl had said with a sneer before flouncing away on Nik's brother's arm when he came to collect her.

Caroline merely rolled her eyes at her antics before returning to Nik and presenting him with her present; he never took it off, in fact it was the first thing she noticed when they were finally reunited, that he had kept her simple present. He had called it the most meaningful gift he had ever received as he placed a tender kiss to her brow and sent her on her way.

It had been torture that night to serve the dinner table and watch him flirting with him. He had sent her glances though, when Elijah and Katerina were conversing, to let her know that his words remained true. He only wanted her. She asked him why later that night as he lazily traced patterns on her bare back.

"You're strong, beautiful, full of light. I enjoy you, my little sunlight girl." And then he had made her forget her fears at least for the night.

She would never be okay with him pretending to court Katerina, especially not when the girl pretended she was already lady of the estate, ordering them all around in way's that not even Nik had ever done before. Not when she spoke of _her_, Caroline's, Nik as though she owned him.

_You have no idea what kind of man you are dealing with. _Caroline sneered at her mentally every time she heard her speaking of "Oh, how sweet Klaus is buying me this and that!" She had no idea how many lives he had taken, and if she were simply a means to an end, she would probably be joining that count.

Everything was at least semi-all right until Katerina had come into Nik's chambers, obviously planning on seducing him, but Caroline was the one under him already, shouting his name in ecstasy. It would have been amusing the look on Katerina's face had Caroline not been wanting to die from embarrassment. Nik never pulled out of her though, merely telling Katerina to get out before she regretted it.

After that, Katerina had made her life a living hell when Nik was not around. Ordering Martha to give her extra work, sneering whore at her every time that she saw her. It got so bad that Caroline was late to her spot to meet with Nik; she was re-re scrubbing the entry way because it "hadn't been clean enough", and he had walked in in a furry, obviously thinking she was hiding from him, but the sight of her on her hand and knees sent his fury towards the rest of the staff in close proximity. His orders overrode Katerina's; Caroline was to be given no extra work, especially not the kind that caused her knees to bleed. And just like that, the whole estate knew of their affair. Katerina was forbidden from speaking to her, by compulsion, but that didn't stop her from trying to steal Nik. Which was amusing, that Katerina thought she had enough power to seduce him, because she assuredly didn't.

Her hopes for Nik ever loving her were destroyed though when, upon walking past his study, she heard him say that vampires didn't feel and they didn't care. Still, she stayed with him, hopeful that he was lying to his brother. She felt like nothing more than a pathetic human, though; she couldn't stop herself though. She couldn't deny him, or herself. She needed him, sick as that was. She enjoyed feeling his fangs gently bite her neck, the feel of him moving inside of her.

It was all ruined when his plans to reverse the hybrid curse failed by Katerina fleeing. He had gone into a fury, and when she had tried to comfort him he had lashed out at her telling her that he did not need her to comfort him. That he was fine without her.

She had fled the estate that night, knowing she couldn't do this to her heart anymore; that staying with him would only destroy what was left of it. She hadn't expected to run into Katerina though. Hadn't expected her to kill her out of revenge for stealing away Nik's- Klaus, she forced herself to call him, because he was no longer her Nik, if he ever had been- affections (though technically Katerina had tried to steal him from Caroline); Klaus' blood was still in her system though, and she had been reborn as the one thing she had never wanted to be.

Caroline was a vampire now.

**Chicago 1920's**

Caroline spent the next several centuries learning how to control her urges to feed and traveling the world. She had run into Elijah in the 1800's in Paris, and he had told her that Klaus had searched for her when he had discovered her missing (and that many lives had been ended because she was gone), but she scoffed at him and asked him not to tell Klaus that she had been turned; he acquiesced, but only after she told him that she would stake herself as soon as he left if he did not agree. She knew that she might have to face Klaus again one day, but she was not prepared for that yet.

She still loved him, all these years latter. She was never able to shake him; she tried, tried so hard to flush him from her system. She couldn't even stand to kiss any other man though, let alone take her to bed. Caroline had a sinking suspicion that it wouldn't help though; she loved him so much, and becoming a vampire had only made that love stronger, though she hated that.

She was in a club talking with some crazy vampire Stefan who was waiting for his girlfriend and her brother to show, when she saw him. "Oh, that's them. Let me introduce you?" Stefan asked, sticking out his elbow. She considered denying him and making a run for it, but his eyes landed on hers, widening perceptibly in shock at her being alive, and he took quick, long-legged strides over to her before she could run. "Klaus, Rebekah, this is my new friend Caroline."

Caroline barely noticed the blond at his side that smiled at her as she went up to Stefan and placed a kiss on his lips. Her eyes roamed over him instead, taking him in and she noticed the strip of leather poking out above Klaus' shirt collar and knew what it was instantly. She decided that she had enough of the silence; she would not be afraid of him, not after everything. "Klaus, it's been a long time."

He narrowed his eyes dangerously at her, and she knew that she was in trouble. "Indeed it has sweetheart. Tell me, how are you still alive?" His hand had grabbed her arm as he spoke, as though afraid she would vanish once more.

"Katerina got to me and killed me. Your blood was still in my system, and here we are." She motioned with her free hand to the both of them.

He began to pull her through the club, and she was too shocked to try to stop him. _Not that it would matter anyway. _

"Rebekah, go home with Stefan tonight. Caroline and I are leaving."

She said nothing as he pulled her into the alley and picked her up in his arms and flashed her to what she assumed was his home. Nothing as she was thrown onto his bed, her dress ripped from her body. She returned the favor, shredding his clothes, as he pressed his lips to her feverishly. In fact, neither of them said a word as they made love to each other. He lavished her body, placing hot, openmouthed kisses to every inch of her body as he slipped his fingers inside of her, only to be replaced by his tongue when he finally got there. She hadn't had sex in centuries; she wasn't about to protest to the one man she would allow to do this to her. The orgasm rippled through her as he crawled back up her body, staring hotly into her eyes as he entered her roughly and she knew that he had been holding out on her as a human.

Neither of them said anything when it was through and he slid out of her. He finally broke the silence thought to ask her one question. "Why did you leave me?"

And then she was angry, how dare he! How dare he after everything ask her that! She smacked his chest, barely earning a glare from him, before she unleashed her fury. "You didn't want me Klaus!" She spat, knowing her use of Klaus would annoy him. "I loved you, and you told me you didn't need me. I couldn't live like that anymore. I wouldn't." She tried to get up, collect what was left of her clothing and get the hell out of here, but his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her under him once more.

"It's Nik to you my beautiful sunlight girl. I was angry; I didn't mean any of it. I will always need you." He entered her once more, and this time it was more like the lovemaking that she remembered. She noticed that he said nothing about her confession of love, and she wasn't going to mention it if he wasn't going to. She knew she should refuse him and leave, but she couldn't do that, not when he had said that he needed her.

And she thought maybe, just maybe, he would change his mind and love her back. He needed her, and that was close to love, right?

He didn't let her leave his home for the next week, taking every opportunity to make love to her. "I'm making up for lost time Caroline."

She didn't complain after he said that, content to have this while it lasted because he was sure to tire of her eventually.

At least he hadn't been with anyone but her either (she discovered after he very jealously asked her about her time apart from him), a fact that gave her further hope that she tried to quash to no avail. She had power over him though, which would have to be enough for now.

He finally revealed to her what Katerina had been for, and she understood. Nearly a thousand years to break a curse, only for all your efforts to be wasted? She would have gotten angry as well.

It was perfect; better than in the sixteenth century because after that week he dated her properly. She didn't feel like a dirty little secret anymore to be hidden and used under cover of dark; no, he took her to restaurants, and plays, and dancing and showed her off to the entire world proud that she was his once more. Her solitude was over; she not only had Klaus back, she gained a friend in Rebekah and Stefan.

And then that all was ruined.

**A/N: So, I'll just leave this here…**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I lied and here's chapter 2. Thanks for reading and reviewing (because it convinced me to write this sooner than I had planned)! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 2**

Caroline remembered when she was a girl in her village. Her father had just finished reprimanding her for something that she had done (she was a very mischievous child, always looking for an adventure), and she had been in tears thinking that her father no longer loved her. He had explained that a father's love was unconditional and that he was punishing her because he loved her and he was afraid of losing her.

She did not think this was true of all fathers.

Her Nik was quite the wounded soul she had always been able to tell, but he never talked about why he was that way. He had preferred to regal her with tales of his adventures across the world. He never spoke of his human life if he could help it; she sensed that it was a painful time, and chose not to push; she after all, was hiding her own secrets of how she had found herself at his estate. He didn't question her reasons, and she didn't question his. Besides, she had just been his human mistress, what right did she have to bring up matters he didn't want to talk about? And now that they were reunited she didn't want to waste time arguing with him when any moment could be their last.

She just hadn't expected the reason for all his inner turmoil to show up and tear him from her life once more.

They had been in the club as was their usual nightly activity, talking and laughing with Rebekah and Stefan when they weren't dancing together. Caroline couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, though, but Nik laughed at her and told her that she was being ridiculous. She was with him, an Original vampire, what bad could possibly come?

The shots had rung out rather suddenly, a bullet almost hitting her. They thought for a wild second that it was only the police busting the illegal alcohol den; but the bullets were wooden, and they both knew that they had been discovered since that could only mean one thing (what police officer would shot wooden bullets at humans?). He grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her to a relative safe location behind one of the pillars. "You need to run Caroline, as fast and as far as you possibly can. I will find you, one day, when it is safe." He pressed his lips to hers quickly, chastely for once in their relationship, and turned to run and collect his sister before he spun back to face her. "I love you." He breathed, as though shocked by the truth of his statement.

And then he was gone, leaving her reeling in shock at his confession, a confession she had never expected to hear from his beautiful lips though she had dreamed of it. He had told her to run, though, and run she would. He would find her, she was sure, no matter how long or how far he would have to travel to be with her once more.

She just hadn't expected it to take as long as it had.

It was pure torture after being reunited with him, loving him again, and finally hearing the words she had dreamt of leaving his mouth to be without him. She would never forget him, though, or be angry at him for this. If there was one thing she knew about him, it was that he protected those that he loved and there was a reason for every single thing that he did. She was among the very few people that he cared about enough to want alive; she might not understand his reasoning for everything, but he had a reason. She had never been one to question his actions; it was part of what he liked about her.

She had a few run-ins with werewolves and vampires, but Nik was apparently watching her to some extent because he always sent someone to save her and give her some piece of jewelry. It wasn't the same as having him there by any means, but she could imagine him walking into stores, picking out things he knew she would like. No matter what happened to her, no matter how far she traveled, the jewelry traveled in a box with her. There were times when she left all her other possessions behind never to be seen again, but never these baubles. She had never really been into fancy things before, but it wasn't the earrings, or the bracelets, or the necklaces (she noticed he never sent rings) that were special; what was special was that they were from Nik and that way she knew that he was still alive somewhere in the world.

She wasn't sure why she had come to Mystic Falls of all places, maybe it was the irony of the name that had amused her, but in any case she was determined to at least try to make a life for herself for once instead of leaving for a new location in two weeks. That was, until some witch had vervained her and chained her in a cave, mere hours after she had arrived in the little town.

She had awoken with a start, still weak from the effects of the vervaine, and she thought that this must be the end for her. She had lived for so long, gotten herself out of so many horrible situations, been reunited with Nik, only for it all to end in a cave with only a werewolf for company.

"Did you get a vampire and a werewolf sweet?" She was sure she was going crazy, there was no way that that could actually be _his _voice; why the hell would he be here in Mystic Falls? But it was, a fact that was confirmed when he sauntered into the cave, only to halt at seeing her. "Caroline? What is the meaning of this?" The witch that had entered with him tried to speak, defend herself- she had grabbed the first vampire she had seen like he had told her too- but found herself quite suddenly without a heart.

Then Caroline's chains were torn from her and she was being cradled to Nik's chest as he stroked her hair. "Are you all right sweetheart?"

"Fine, she just vervained me Nik." The weakness in her voice though was enough to tip him off that the witch had used quite a lot of vervaine on Caroline. He carried her out of the cave without another word and flashed her to an apartment. She was shocked to see Katerina, but that she was preoccupied slamming a knife into her leg reassured her that this was not because Nik had taken up with her. "Nik?"

"Don't worry about her love; just exacting my revenge for her betrayal of me." She nodded and was carried into a bedroom and laid tenderly on a bed. "She will not hurt you again my love, I will let no one hurt you again." His wrist was offered to her, and she took it gratefully; she knew that she would heal eventually, but his blood would speed along the process (not to mention that it was extremely tasty). When she was finished she noticed that he had moved to cradle her to his chest and she savored the feel of having his arms around her once more.

"Nik, who was after us in Chicago?" She would not mention his confession, as he had not acknowledged hers; it was enough to know that they loved each other; they didn't need to tell each other every ten seconds.

"My father; but he was not after you lovely. He was after me, but that was why I had to get you out of there as fast as possible. If he knew about you he would use you against me." She recognized his unspoken 'and kill you' from the way his arms tightened around her.

"Is he still alive?" She questioned, fear evident in her voice, but not for herself; no she was worried for him, and why was his father trying to kill him?

"Yes, but when he is finally gone, we will really be together forever."

"You're going to leave me again?" _Oh get a grip Caroline; you've survived without him before, you will do it again._

"Only until I am sure that you will be safe." He said firmly finally grabbing her lips for a passion filled kiss. "I have to go do something love, and then I will be able to destroy Mikael. And then we can be together with my family. Stay here please, love, until I come back. I would not leave you like this if it was not important." He left the room, and she considered leaving but she did not want to face Katerina again (she was not sure if either of them would leave that alive). She heard him, and she assumed that he was compelling her, to leave Caroline alone and not to speak to her.

It took him two days to return to the apartment, during which time Caroline had only left the room to get some of the blood bags that she had gone in search of, sure that Nik would not leave her with no source of sustenance. She was surprised to find Elijah at his side when he did return, more surprised to see Stefan, as she had not heard him enter the apartment. She could see that he did not remember her though, or Nik for that matter; _he compelled him, but not me. _She made no move to help Elijah as she saw Nik plunge a dagger into his heart. He was keeping him safe in the only way he knew how. He was so afraid of losing them to Mikael; she realized, without shock, that if he could he would dagger her as well (that story, the story of what the daggers did, had been revealed to her one night when she had asked if Elijah was his only sibling). She knew Nik, and he had a reason for everything. He did not do things without cause. And she knew that Elijah's hand in Katerina running away would have been punished eventually anyway.

She did nothing when Stefan asked Nik for a cure for the werewolf bite his brother had acquired; nothing as Nik bit into Katerina's arm with his now fatal bite- _so he finally broke the curse-_nothing when he revealed his blood was the cure. When he tried to force Stefan to become a ripper once more, she tried to put a stop to it, she really did, but it seemed that she was always trying to convince him to do something only for him to shot her down with a mere glance. She hated it, but it was part of who Nik was, and she loved him amidst even this. She just needed to remind herself that he had a reason for every single thing that he did, and she would not be the one to question his authority in front of Stefan and Katerina.

She saw Stefan eyeing her curiously as he tour the cap off the blood bag Nik had offered to him. "How can you be with him? He's a monster."

She was about to answer, defend her decision and tell Stefan to mind his own damn business, but Nik responded for her. "She is none of your concern mate. If you want the cure for your brother, you'll leave her out of this." The message was very clear; she was Nik's and not to be messed with.

Hours later, when Katerina had fled once more and Stefan had been sent to meet Klaus somewhere (she wasn't really paying attention to all the details); he had pulled led her back to the bedroom and made sweet, torturous love to her and when he had gotten up to leave he had pulled her to him and placed several kisses on her waiting lips. "I will be back, and then we will be together. Stay here so I'll know where you are this time."

That would have to be enough for now. Would this always be their lives though; to be reunited for several heated moments only to be separated once more? "Don't take ninety years to find me this time Nik."

He smirked as he pulled away from her, but she could see the sadness in his eyes that he didn't even try to hide from her. "Wouldn't dream of it my beautiful sunlight girl."

She decided to attend high school; she had never done it before, and she wasn't sure that she could pass for an adult. Emancipated high school student, though? She could pull that one off. And it would pass the time as she waited for Nik to return to her.

Sometimes she loathed him. She was supposed to be an independent modern woman who didn't need a man. Caroline wasn't that though; she had been born in the Middle Ages and her upbringing didn't go away just because she had lived a few centuries. And she needed Nik; it didn't matter how much she tried to deny it or him; that fact would never go away. At least he seemed to need her as much as she needed him.

The werewolf boy from the cave she found to be alive, she wondered what had brought that about. He, annoyingly, tried to hit on her even though she told him in no uncertain terms that she was spoken for. She didn't understand him; one minute he was flirting with her, the next telling Katerina's double that 'Klaus' had seemed quite concerned about her welfare. That didn't help to make her any friends. No matter, she would still participate in these foolish senior pranks and try her best to ignore these teenager's hateful glances in her direction.

Tyler was flirting with her once again, and he had pushed her into a locker with his strength, catching her off guard and she could see that he was about to move in and kiss her, muttering some nonsense about Klaus not being good enough for her- _how dare he talk about my Nik like that!- _but his body was quite suddenly and violently ripped off of her.

"Now Care, you know that Nik wouldn't appreciate your lips touching another man's. He has a wild possessive streak." Rebekah stood there, teasing her Caroline could tell even as she breathed a sigh of relief, as Tyler whipped his eyes back and forth between them (he had no idea who this 'Nik' fellow was, but he assumed he would not like it once he found out).

"Well Bekah, it was hardly my fault. I was an innocent victim in all of this." Caroline quipped with a smile; if Rebekah was here then so was her Nik.

"Oh, well we should probably tell Nik about this then, he'll be most interested." Caroline followed Rebekah as she dragged Tyler to the gym. "Nik, look what I found; this werewolf thought he could put his hands on your girl."

Everyone in the gym stopped what they had been doing on their arrival, and Caroline found that she didn't want to know what was going on. Nik was there and her world was complete once more. He smirked as he walked toward them, but she could see that despite him calm demeanor he was fuming. "Is that so? Tell me, what made you think you had any right to even look at her?"

Tyler took a moment too long to respond and Tyler was very suddenly being forced to drink Nik's blood before his neck was broken. He then calmly explained to the witch Bonnie that if she didn't figure out how to make his hybrids survive her friend would die and that she had twenty minutes to complete that task, amplified when he compelled Stefan to kill Elena after those twenty minutes were up as well. Then he came and lifted her into his arms and carried her to his car. "Can't stay out of trouble can you?"

She raised her one of her eyebrows at him. "What would you be useful for if I could?"

This time, they made love in the backseat of his car, a first for both of them which made it all the more enjoyable. "Are you going to leave me again Nik?"

"Yes, but I'll be back sooner this time sweetheart. I'm going to find werewolves, and I can't have you with me getting hurt."

He left that night after finally receiving his answer on why his hybrids had not worked before, but not before giving her a final goodbye kiss and asking Rebekah to stay with her and make sure that she didn't get into any more trouble; and in no uncertain terms that if Tyler dared to ever touch her again he was to be killed.

Her and Rebekah seemed to become the most hated people in Mystic Falls. _How selfish of them to think that the world revolves around what they want and what they want to protect! _Matters were not helped when Damon, angered by Stefan's lack of humanity in general, though he now remembered Caroline and was the least hateful of the entire group, and that Elena had almost lost her life had threated Caroline the night before homecoming. Rebekah swiftly called Nik, and he told her that he would be there the next night and he would escort Caroline to the dance.

Little did the three of them know that the Scooby Doo gang (Rebekah and Caroline may have had entire days marathon of the cartoon, and they noticed the shocking similarities) had plans of their own for the evening.

Plans that were essentially doomed to failure, but plans none-the-less.

Caroline had been very afraid for a moment, it seemed that less and less time was passing between the times when she was afraid for her life, when walking into the party she had been grabbed by a man that was most decidedly not Nik. He introduced himself Mikael, the name she recognized as being Nik's father.

Mikael had deposited her into the arms of one of Nik's hybrids and had taken Elena into his own as he threatened him. She noticed, though, that Nik, though he was supposed to be more concerned with his blood supply to make hybrids, could not keep his eyes from shooting over to her, as though he was more concerned with her safety.

In any case, the night ended with the Scooby Do gang's failure and Mikael finally being disposed of, and Caroline being safely ensconced in Nik's arms. They would never have to be apart after this, he had promised after all. No matter what he did, how many people he killed, she could not stop herself from loving him. And though he saw love as nothing more than a weakness, his beautiful sunlight girl had made him feel that loathsome emotion. They were yin and yang, but they had been fated to meet and change each other. For though he would always be the fearsome Niklaus, Original Hybrid, he was her Nik. And though she was Caroline Forbes, peasant and servant, she was his beautiful sunlight girl.

They did not rest much that night; they pleasured each other straight through till morning. They were finally free to be together; free of Mikael's shadow looming over them threatening to destroy what little happiness they had managed to find with each other. This man, her Nik, certainly knew how to use his hands, his lips, _dear God _his very voice to send her into ecstasy. She was determined that nothing, no one, would ever take this from her again. She would kill them if they tried.

**A/N: So, let me know what you think?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I would like to note that I'm really trying to capture Caroline more from the first season and transition her to her more grown up, mature self. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 3**

The problem, Caroline discovered, with being separated from the man she loved for five hundred years was that they expected each other to be the same. And she did not want to lose him again, especially not over an argument of her safety when they had been through so much together.

But the hybrid detail he had assigned to shadow her every move when she was away from him? It was a bit much. As was him threatening every male that dared to look at her.

She had survived for this long just fine thank you very much. And she was more than capable of turning guys down (she had resisted the urge for _five hundred_ years). It wasn't like she even wanted their attention; and honestly, why would she want any of these silly humans when she had Nik (sometimes she swore he was more insecure than she was; and half the girl population of the United States).

It was harder and harder to tell her self that he would move past this protective phase and that he would back the hell off and let her live her life. She wanted to be with him, but not at the expense of herself. But this? What she had just found out? This was absolutely the last straw.

"Niklaus!" She yelled as she walked into the house, knowing he was probably in his art room (which would make it all the harder for her to be angry at him when he looked so… human). He was there as she expected.

"Yes love? How can I help you?" He asked, calm amidst her ire (making it grow), as he turned from his painting.

"You need to stop whatever this is that you're doing. You can't keep threatening to take Elena, Nik to make them do what you want."

"I need her to make my hybrids sweetheart, and they keep putting her in danger."

"Why do you need them anymore? Mikael is dead and you have me!"

"You're not enough!" He roared, finally losing his calm as he calm over and gripped her by her upper arms; his eyes were sad, though, but she didn't stop to consider what that could possibly mean.

She left the room without a word and was moved back into the apartment she had been living in when she first came here, all without telling him. She couldn't bring herself to leave him again as she had done so long ago when he had told her that he didn't need her though; she loved him, and sometimes love meant loving from a distance. This was the farthest distance she could travel, though. This was painful, knowing that he loved her as he could, being apart from him, being angry with him. But even if she didn't necessarily like the doppelganger girl, she couldn't let him ruin Elena's life. And it all brought back her insecurities from when she had been a human; that she wasn't good enough, that no one would ever want her, that she was only good for one thing.

They were supposed to be happy now that Mikael was dead; why did he still need those hybrids? Why couldn't she be enough for him? She felt like she had never been enough for him. She wanted Nik to want her and only her. Maybe being away from each other would be good for a while. They needed time, time to understand each other; she had no doubts that they were meant for each other though; she would always go back to him no matter what he did. She hated that so much sometimes, but she didn't question it; it seemed to be the same for him. They were linked.

She had left him a note, knowing he would go looking for her expecting her to be over the argument, saying that they needed to be away from each other for a little while and that maybe they should see other people. It killed her, but she knew that it would wound him to read that; the vindictive, spiteful part of her nature wanted to hurt him as he had hurt her. He would be angry, but he deserved to be angry after he had treated her like that.

So she dressed up and went to the one bar in town the Grill. She wasn't too proud to admit that she was dressed promiscuously. Caroline was sure that Nik would not make an appearance, though, so she had no reason to be nervous that he would kill people that looked at her this time. He probably wouldn't even notice that she was gone until tomorrow, anyway, she reasoned.

Which was why she almost changed her mind and went back home when upon walking in she spotted him at the bar. But no, she held her head high and marched over there. "Caroline. Join me for a drink?"

"Hmm, I'd rather die of thirst, but thanks!" She turned away with a smile on her face as she walked to the dance floor. Oh, he would regret hurting her. She would make sure of it.

"Let go Niklaus! You have no right!" Not much latter, in fact barely five minuets had passed since she had walked in, Caroline found herself being dragged out of the bar and unceremoniously thrown (gently, she noticed; though he was obviously angry he was still trying his best not to hurt her) into his car. Which she apparently couldn't get out of, because the door would not budge when she pulled on the door handle.

"No right? I have every right Caroline." He growled when he entered the car. "You were kissing that man."

"Yes. In case you didn't remember, I broke up with you."

"Through a note."

"What difference does that make?"

"You don't really want to break up with me Caroline, otherwise you would have told me to my face."

"The fact remains that we were broken up when I kissed Matt. And what a good kisser he turned out to be." Okay, admittedly she had done all of this to rile him up and she was just fanning the fire now, but he deserved it. Right? Maybe she shouldn't have kissed Matt. He had to know how serious this was though; it was rather selfish and impulsive of her though, Matt was a nice guy and she could have gotten him killed in her desire to make Nik jealous.

He pulled the car over to the side of the rode when she said that and, amidst her very short lived protest, pulled her face to his and kissed her until she forgot the foreign feel of Matt's lips on hers (he hadn't been a good kisser at all; _stupid arrogant hybrid and his thousand years of experience_). He pulled away with a smirk, but the hurt that was in his eyes let her know that her plan had worked. "What were you saying love?" He asked as he pulled back onto the rode.

"That you are an arrogant, stubborn annoying man! You told me I wasn't enough for you Nik. What did you expect me to do?"

He sighed as he gripped the steering wheel. "I can't lose you again Caroline; I thought you were dead."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're building a slave army so that you don't lose me?" She shrieked shrilly. "Why would you tell me that I wasn't enough?"

"Because you infuriating girl! You don't seem to understand that everything I have done from the moment I met you has been to assure myself that you would be safe; that I wouldn't lose you. And you questioned my actions and I wanted to hurt you." He paused and she could sense that he had more to say; that he was trying to calm down. "I could lose you. I can always make more hybrids. I can't make another you."

"You're going to lose me if you don't stop this Nik. I don't need an army to protect me, I need _you_. And I will fight every day to stay alive to be with you, but you—I can't be with you if you're going to keep doing this."

He reached over and grabbed one of her hands. "Don't leave me again Caroline." If he had said it in a different voice, she would have scoffed, told him not to threaten her. He said it in a childlike voice, though, and she knew that loathe as he was to admit it, he loved her and she was enough. That was what scared him though, that he had given someone that power, the fear that he could lose someone.

"Leave the girl alone Nik." They glared at each other for a moment, but that was her condition.

"Fine sweetheart. Fine. I'll give up my source to make hybrids. But who will keep you safe, make sure you don't get hurt?" He didn't quite manage to cover the panicked note his voice had taken.

"Nik I kept myself alive for five hundred years. And I have you to keep me safe. Are you doubting your own abilities?"

Inside she was beaming; she had gotten him to do what she wanted. And he had chosen her over his desire to build his hybrid army. This whole argument was Damon's fault, anyway. He had tried to slam her into her car when she had left school, complaining about Nik being a nuisance and that she was his weakness, but Caroline managed to pin him to the ground before he voiced that she wasn't as important to Nik as she thought. So, she didn't actually care about Elena. She just needed to know if she was more than a common mistress again. And she was.

They went back to his house and he led her up the stairs to his room. Caroline discovered that she quite enjoyed make up sex. The next morning, she insisted that he take her back to the apartment she had gotten; they needed time living apart, even if they were still together. Nik could take her on dates like every other boyfriend in the world.

She managed to convince him to call of her guards as well, but they both regretted that decision in short order. It seemed Tyler wasn't happy about being sired to Nik, or that she had rejected him. So, when she was walking through the woods (a pastime from her human life; sometimes she liked to pretend that it was still that time period, that the world hadn't been changed so much by all the modern conveniences) alone, she was caught off guard by him. She thought he was going to try to kiss her again. That she would be so lucky. No, he decided that biting her would be a good idea. And Nik was out of town for business. She barely noticed Tyler flee as she deliriously pulled her body up. Caroline looked up in surprise when she found herself at Nik's house.

At least she would be surrounded by things he liked, by his smell, the memories of him inside of her, as she died even if he couldn't save her. There was so much she whished she could have done with him; she had seen the world, but there was little pleasure in it without the man that she loved, and she wanted that. And what hurt the most in that moment was that she could see how her life could have been if she had been a human girl and he had been a human boy. They would have fallen in love, gotten married, had children, grown old together before they died in each other's arms (though she wasn't sure if that sentiment was brought on because she had recently discovered The Notebook or not). She wanted that life, but at the same time her life was so much better because she wasn't human anymore; if only Tyler hadn't bit her, she could have been with Nik forever.

They had been doomed to be separated and reunited, though. Maybe, one day, Nik would die and join her in whatever afterlife there was for vampires.

She crawled into his bed and under the covers, intent on falling asleep and not hurting anyone; she had heard about the hallucinatory effects of werewolf venom and how many vampires would go on rampages. She didn't want that to be her; she didn't want her last acts to be murder. That was not who she was; Nik maybe, but that had never been her.

She could imagine him telling her "I told you that you needed a protection detail, you beautiful stubborn girl. Let's fix you up now." Maybe it was his scent in the bed sheets that caused her to be able to conjure his image with such stunning clarity. She knew it wasn't real, though; he would not be gentle like that if he had really come back. He would flash to her and give her his blood, and then he would yell at her for putting her life in danger yet again. She found herself sad that she would miss that, because instead she was sure that when he found her body that he would break down. And then maybe obliterate the town. She sighed; she really wished that he wouldn't do that, that her death wouldn't cause the deaths of so many. It was hardly fair. _I promised he wouldn't lose me. _Somehow that thought became the most distressing in her mind; she had lied to him, he was going to lose her."

"Caroline! Caroline, what's wrong?" Rebekah's voice broke her inner thoughts.

"Werewolf bite, Tyler in the woods." She found she didn't have the energy to answer further, or actually form a coherent sentence; she wondered how long it had been since she had come here. Time wasn't passing right in her mind at all. And it hurt so badly. She heard Rebekah calling someone and begging who ever she had called to pick up. _Nik, she's calling Nik. Why hadn't I thought of that? _She couldn't stay awake long enough to find out if he ever answered, and she found that she couldn't quite remember why she wanted him to answer in the first place. Something was terribly wrong she knew, but what? And why did her whole body feel as though it were on fire?

Then there was nothing.

She woke to the feel of a strong hand grasping hers and the sickly-sweet taste of blood running down her throat. Every muscle, every bone in her body was sore from the effects of the wolf venom, but she could feel it dissipating little by little. "Come on sweetheart, wake up. There's a good girl."

She opened her eyes to find her Nik there; he had somehow made it in time to save her. She latched on to his wrist that was still at her mouth and drank his blood in until he pulled it away and stoked her hair back from her face. "You gave me quite a scare love."

"I'm sorry—I just-"

"Hush love, I don't blame you." He moved so that he head was cradled on his chest, and in that moment he was so… not _him_, he was how she imagined he would be if he were still human, and she couldn't help it anymore. She finally, finally, let the tears she had been holding in flow down her face. "Shh, darling. You're alive that's all that matters."

"You're not going to yell at me?"

"No, but I am contemplating destroying every werewolf and hybrid in the world so that they can't hurt you again. Or never leaving your side again."

She laughed at his teasing tone and looked into his smiling face. "Can't you do both?"

"If that's what you want lovely."

"Trying to get in as many endearments as you can?"

"For a moment when Rebekah called me, I thought I would never get to call you anything ever again. So, yes, **my** love, I'm trying to get in as many endearments as I can."

"Can you bring my stuff back over from my apartment?" She knew that, though she needed her independence, but there were other ways for her to achieve that. She wasn't sure that either of them could be apart from each other after this whole ordeal. She could go on a weekend trip with Rebekah or something to show him that they could be apart from each other; but right now, they needed to be together.

"If you're sure sweetheart."

"I think if I stayed there, you would basically move in, so I might as well just save us a step and move in here."

"Glad to see that you know me so well."

"Of course." She said as she turned and threw one of her legs over him so she could straddle his hips as he bit back a groan at the contact. "It's because I love you." She confided in a whisper as she pulled his shirt over his head and began to train kisses down his chest.

One of his hands moved to cup her cheek. "As I love you."

Suddenly, she was off of him and headed towards the bathroom. "Love?"

"I almost died. I think I need a shower." She threw what she hoped was a sultry, seductive glance over her shoulder and suddenly found herself in the running water of the shower. "How'd you get it warm so fast?" She questioned as he tugged her clothing off.

"You'd be amazed what wonderful things money can buy you." There wasn't room for talking after that; in fact there wasn't much room for coherent thought after that. He was trying, she could tell, to convince himself that she was indeed alive and in his arms. And she would do whatever it took to get him to believe that she was indeed here, not to mention that near death experiences indeed increased her libido.

She found herself to be quite insatiable for the ensuing hours. They only broke apart from each other when he went downstairs to get her some more blood. She sunk contentedly into the pillows; life with Nik was and always would be difficult, but it would always be worth it.

**A/N: So here's this. Let me know what you think! (Story is not over yet, I would like to not. I'll do a spin on most of the major events of the show).**

**Follow me on tumblr at ship-at-first-sight**


	4. Chapter 4

**Who else thought the episode was super boring without Klaus? Anyway, I really hate Tyler now (I tolerated him before, now I want his slow painful death), so, although I seriously thought about making Klaus the reason Caroline was bit, as many of you suggested, I can't do it now. You'll see what I did in any case. Enjoy!**

***Please be aware that I like Damon and I am not trying to hate on him in this chapter, it just sort of happened.**

**Chapter 4**

If Caroline had expected Klaus to become even more overbearing and protective, she was mistaken. He never left her side for the most part, though, so she assumed that that played a factor. He had some business he had to take care of on this particular day, and though she asked him to tell her, he promised he would tell her once it was resolved; that he didn't want her getting involved because he didn't want her getting hurt again. She had rolled her eyes and agreed to meet him at the Grill for lunch as part of their deal at trying to have a semi-normal relationship.

Which was why, when instead of her- was boyfriend the right word to describe him?- Nik, Damon Salvatore sat down at her table instead. She did not like him, at all. It really wasn't his fault, actually, as much as she was loathe to admit that fact. You see, the reason Caroline had been sent to work for Nik in the first place was because she had almost been raped by a man, traveling through Britain from Italy. He hadn't ever given her his name, but looking at Damon, so unlike Stefan in his looks, she could tell that Damon was that man's descendant. So, she didn't like him; too many horrible memories were associated with his face.

"Go away, I'm waiting for someone." She said, scorn evident in her voice though she tried, she really did, to control it.

"Now, don't be like that Blondie. I just want to talk to you." God, how was it possible that even his _voice_ sounded like her attacker's?

"I have nothing to say to you Damon."

"Look, we're trying to get rid of Klaus, as we think that since you know him so well you could be a real asset to our group-"

"Let me stop you right there." She interrupted, letting true malice seep into her voice. "I will never help anyone kill Nik. He's stubborn and an ass but I love him, and I will not lose him to you selfish idiots."

"We have reason to believe that he told Tyler to bite you."

She scoffed at him. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't pretend to understand why he does the things he does. All I know is that Tyler is sired to Klaus, which means he does what he says"

"And the first conclusion you came to is that Nik would tell him to bite me, knowing he was going too far away to save me in time if anything were to happen? I think the vervaine you've been drinking has gone to your head."

"Come on, Blondie, you must see that there is a possibility that it could have been Klaus."

"No, I really can't say that I do Damon."

"He's dangerous Caroline. He needs to be stopped."

"It wouldn't matter if I believed that anyway because there is no way to kill him."

"Ah, you see Blondie, we think we have a way. What do you know about the coffins he carts around?"

"I don't have any idea what the hell you are talking about, but I think it would be best for you to leave before Nik shows up and I tell him that you were bothering me."

"Oh, do you need your boyfriend to protect you little girl?" He sneered at her obvious loyalty to Nik.

She slammed her foot into his leg and felt the bones crack from the pressure; a sick part of her enjoyed hearing his gasp of pain. "No; you forget Damon that I am a lot older than you, and that makes me stronger. Plus, I am extremely angry right now; you want to kill the man I love. I told you to leave because he doesn't… appreciate other men talking to me. I think you should leave before he gets here."

"Too late for that, I'm afraid. Good kick, though, sweetheart." They both looked up to find Nik standing at their table, a dangerous glint to his eye. "Damon Salvatore, any reason you're talking to my girl after your brother stole my family?"

Damon looked between them, and as much as Caroline didn't like him, she didn't necessarily want him dead, because whatever he was about to say would surely end in that. She could deflect his anger, even just a little bit. "Oh, you know Nik. He thought I would help them hurt you. I informed him of just how stupid that was."

"Oh I see. Well, off you go mate. Wouldn't want to scare the locals." He paused for a minuet letting Damon leave the booth, when his arm shot out suddenly. "And tell your brother that if my family is not returned to me, I will take Elena, I will drain her of her blood, and I will kill her."

She waited until Damon was out of the restaurant to lay into him. "You still want Elena's blood?"

"I told you I didn't love, and I meant it. He doesn't need to know that yet."

"He wants to kill you, I think it might be at least a little useful to let them know."

"I'll let them know when they decide to respect my status as Original. They need to learn some respect."

"And me? Did you think that I needed to learn some respect as well?"

"What do you mean sweetheart?" His voice had taken a dangerous tone again, the one that let her know she had pushed too far, but she had never been afraid of this man and she wasn't about to start now.

"Did you make Tyler bite me Nik? Because if you did it in some messed up way for me to see that I can't take care of myself-"

He interrupted her, placing his hands over hers on the tabletop. "I would never place you in harms way just to prove a point Caroline. I know that I'm not good at showing it, or expressing my emotions very well, but I love you and want you to be safe; I would never resort to hurting you to make you think that you were safest with me."

She had heard him lie many time, when she was with him in the fifteen hundreds, and again in modern times. And she knew, hearing him say those words, that the only time he had been more sincere was when he had finally told her that he loved her. "All right, I believe you. I just had to know. I should have known it was complete foolishness coming out of Damon's mouth."

"Yes you should have. Now, how about that lunch I promised you?"

"What about your family?"

"I'll worry about them latter. I promised you a date, and I intend to deliver."

The next time she had an unfortunate run in with a Salvatore was when she went to the grocery store to pick up some alcohol; Nik liked his expensive drinks, but she still felt funny using his money, instead using hers whenever he was not with her. She had some, not nearly as much as he did, but she hadn't been entirely idle in her time apart from him. Anyway, she was walking out of the store and back to her car when Stefan approached her. "Caroline. I heard you talked to my brother."

"Oh, that I did. Though I must say that your company is vastly preferable."

"Many people have said that over the years, but he's still my brother and both you and Klaus threatened him. I don't appreciate that."

"Look Stefan, you're an old friend, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and stuff, but your brother threatened Nik's life first. I don't take kindly to that."

"You've seen what he's done Caroline, I don't understand why you would actually side with him."

"And have you really been any better Stefan? Nik has done things in the past, but so have you; so have I, so have every single last one of us. Does everyone deserve forgiveness but him?" She was yelling now, but she didn't care. How dare these boys think they had any right to understand him? They hadn't been through half of what Nik had been through, and they never would. "I love him Stefan. I know he's done bad things, and I know he's hurt people; but you of all people should know that he's capable of immense kindness."

"I don't see why-"

"He compelled you to forget about us so Mikael wouldn't hurt you. He lost his first friend in centuries to protect you Stefan; yeah it was also so Mikael couldn't get you to betray him, but Nik considered you a brother."

"And what about you? Why didn't he compel you?"

"My necklace? Can't be compelled." She saw him notice the necklace she wore for the first time, it was a small stone, hardly noticeable, but incredibly powerful, given to her by her Nik after one of their first times together. "When we were first together, he was worried that to protect me he would compel me to leave and forget about him. He didn't want to do that in a moment of weakness he told me when he gave it to me. He wanted it to be my choice."

"He really cares about you?" Ah, there was the old Stefan peaking through his hard exterior, not the ripper Stefan, but the one with actual emotions; something about her story had helped to bring him back.

"I'd like to think he does Stefan. Don't take what he does so harshly; he has reasons that we might not ever know; he doesn't want us to know. But he has a reason for every little think that he does. They may not always be the right thing, but he does what he thinks is right."

"Is he going to hurt Elena?"

"I don't think so Stefan, and while I would be upset if he did, you must understand that I won't betray him."

"I know; we won't ask again. There's really no way to kill him?"

"No, there's really not. Besides, he's an original. Don't you think that killing him could have serious repercussions?"

"You're right. We never thought of the consequences. Will you three leave town at least?"

"Rebekah likes it here; she wants to finish high school. They were here first anyway. I'll try to keep the whole 'killing innocent people thing' to a minimum."

Stefan smiled, a real actual smile. "Thanks Care. You think we can be friends again?"

"As long as you stop trying to kill my boyfriend. And give him a chance to make things right."

He sighed, but the smile was still on his face. "We were good friends once, maybe we can be again. But you have to be nicer to Damon the next time you see him."

"Really Stefan? Really?"

"Come on, fair's fair. I give Klaus another chance and you give Damon one."

"Fine, fine, I'll try my best. And the coffins?"

"I'll return them. I'll see you around Caroline."

"See you Stef." She got into her car, glad that she had been able to reach her friend. She only hoped that he was telling the truth and that he really was planning on stopping his quest to kill Nik. She drove home, looking forward to telling him that he would get his family back soon, only to find at her arrival that Stefan was already there, shaking Nik's hand, a smile on both their faces.

"When I said see you Stefan, I didn't expect it to be quite so soon." She said as she got out of her car.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure no one got hurt because I took to long."

"Thank you love for speaking to him."

"Well, he sort of blocked the way to my car and I didn't feel like beating him up today."

They all shared a laugh at that before Stefan went on his way. "Thank you again sweetheart. Maybe some bridges can be mended." Nik said as they moved inside the house, him taking her bags from her, raising an eye when he saw the contents, but she spoke before he could say anything.

"Yeah, well, he was my friend too. Don't know if I'll ever be able to like Damon, though."

"Did he do something to you, because if he did-"

"He didn't do anything Nik. It's, well something happened with a man that I think is his ancestor before I came to live with you and I'm having a hard time seeing past that. I know I have to, it's just I never dealt with it when it happened. My father shipped me off to work for you, and then it really didn't matter anymore." He motioned for her to continue as he poured her a drink (his expensive alcohol she noted with a roll of her eyes), which she gladly accepted. "There was a man who came to our village. He said he was a traveling preacher or some such, and he never gave us a name. I went to the barn to take care of the animals for the night, and he followed me. He was a rich lord, and I was just a peasant girl, so h tried to force himself on me. He almost got my dress off after hitting me a few times, but I hit him with the pitchfork and knocked him out. And then my father sent me to live with you."

"Is that why you were never afraid of me? Because you had been treated worse than even I could ever treat a woman?" She could see that he was trying to hold in his anger at a man long since dead.

"Yeah, I mean, even when you bit me that first night, you didn't really hurt me. And you showed me that sex wasn't an unpleasant experience, because all I had experienced was that man."

"Shall I remind you of what a pleasurable experience it can be?"

"I think that that would be lovely dear sir." It was strange; five hundred years ago, she hadn't even known what sex was really, and here she was wanting it from this man.

"Oh don't tell me we're back to that milord garbage. I really hated that; you were a gem, you deserved to be a lady. If you hadn't fled, I would have made you one; I would have married you just to give you the title that you should have been born to."

"Thank you, Nik. You've always seen me so much better than I see myself."

"Well someone has to. What happened with your parents?"

"I don't know. My father told me to never contact them again, and once I was turned I didn't want to chance hurting them. My father would have killed me."

He looked away from her quickly. "He tried to. Elijah saved you while he was looking for Katherine and removed your memories of it. He didn't tell me, or he didn't know that you were a vampire."

"Well, that's probably not something I would want to remember anyway."

He nodded agreeing with her before a thought struck her. "Why didn't you come after me after that? And what about the necklace you gave me?"

"Elijah didn't tell me until we met in New York in the eighteen hundreds. I thought you were dead; that I had had a chance to find you and he took that from me was devastating. It's what led to our recent estrangement. As for the necklace, I would imagine your father removed it and Elijah gave it back to you."

"Are you going to free them?" She asked as he leaned in to kiss her, motioning to the room that held the coffins his family was currently ensconced in, and he stopped a breath away from her lips; she almost gave into the temptation, but she seriously did not agree with him keeping his siblings locked up, and she knew Rebekah didn't either.

"Eventually, but I would rather they didn't interrupt our night. I have," he paused to kiss the corner of her mouth in a way that sent tingles through her, "quite a bit of explaining to do. They'll be angry, and I'd rather not deal with that right now. I'd much rather show you how much I care about you."

So she let him lead her up the staircase to their room. She let him lay her down tenderly on his bed, and then she let him undress her as she returned the favor. And then he placed tender, loving kisses across her chest before looking back up at her. He had never done this, never looked at her, since they had been reunited in the twenties. And now she knew why; the tell tale veins of hunger were under his eyes, and they themselves were yellow. "You want my blood? Still?"

"Always."

"Go ahead, Nik." At her words, his tenuous control slipped, and he lowered his head back down to the curve of her breast, and slowly and lovingly let his teeth slip into the flesh there. She moaned and arched her back as he took her blood in a much more sensual experience than it ever had been when she was merely human. He wasn't greedy though, taking only enough to sate his hunger for her before removing his teeth from her flesh and moving up her body to place a tender kiss on her lips before moving her head to his neck. "You want me to-?"

"If you don't, my bite could kill you love." That was all it took for her to sink her teeth into his neck, knowing that this was an extreme act of trust in her. She felt him move over her before he thrust into her gently, moving slowly as she drank his blood. It was wonderful, and every touch ignited a fire in her, a fire for more of him; she knew she had to stop drinking from him, though, so she removed her mouth from his throat and licked the excess blood off, causing him to growl in appreciation.

These, these precious moments were why she stayed with him, why she fought for him, why she had loved him for five centuries, and why she had faith that he was a good person under all this rage that he held for what Mikael had done to him, though he had yet to tell her everything. Maybe now that she had told him something painful, he would tell her?

"I love you", they breathed out in unison as they came together, both needing the confirmation in that moment. But it was more than that; they each knew that the other needed to hear it from their lips.

**A/N: I really liked writing this chapter; so let me know what you think?**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, going back in time a little bit before moving on with the actual story line, hope you don't mind! I'll do this every so often, just to catch glimpses of Caroline's life and experiences, and they'll be shorter than normal chapters. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 5**

_When Caroline's father had sent her away from her hometown, she had been heartbroken. She knew it had to be done, though. The law was not on her side and she could be killed for the offense, even if that man deserved much more than merely being knocked out._

_She approached the castle warily; she had heard rumors of the fearsome lord that resided her, terrible stories claiming he was a murder. She steeled herself, vowing to no longer be afraid. She was not a child any longer, and really since when did those gossips no anything?_

_Some even claimed that he was inhuman; that he was a vampire. Which was ridiculous, right? Vampires did not exist._

_Things had started off simply enough, she was tasked with normal servant duties; cooking, cleaning, generally hiding from the sight of the masters. Elijah and the Lord of the manor, Niklaus, two brothers who were extremely powerful and extremely dangerous to anyone who dared to cross them. At least, that was what the other servants claimed. She had already been here for several weeks, and had yet to see either of them. She was curious, as was her nature, and she wanted at least a glimpse to see what was so terrible about these men. Her chance came when she was sent to bring Lord Niklaus his tea in his study._

_She was proud of herself; she had walked calmly into the room and set the serving tray down on the table all without spilling anything or tripping over anything in her anxiety of moving up in the servant world. She had curtsied before leaving the room as she had been told to do, and glanced up between her lashes to find the lord glaring at her. She left the room quickly wondering what she could have possibly done to warrant such malice. Had she made a mistake? Oh she would be kicked out for sure, and she would have to find another home._

_Two days latter, she was still there to her wary surprise. She said nothing of the incident to the other servants, not wanting to get in further trouble if she was in any. Besides, she hadn't really made any friends in her time there; that had never been her strong suit. She was good at organizing things, being in charge, but other people didn't really appreciate that. Caroline enjoyed her solitude, though; she was happy being alone, content in herself. _

_She contemplated what she could have possibly done wrong. She had done everything she had been told. What caused him to glare at her so? Amidst these ruminations, she also remembered how handsome he had been, not at all how she had pictured him. He was… perfect. There was no other way to describe him. These thoughts plagued her for those two days before she saw him again. _

_She was sent once more to bring him his tea. She did so, vowing to not make a single mistake to warrant his wrath once more. She would be perfect; Caroline couldn't lose this position. She had no home to go back to anymore, and she didn't know where else to go. _

_Caroline was on her way out the door once more when a heavy hand slammed it shut. Suddenly, her body was against the wall close to the door, the lord looming over her form before his mouth was on hers as his hands griped her upper arms. It was passionate, so much better than that man that had tried to take advantage of her, and did people really use tongues? No one had told her that; but wait, didn't he hate her? It was what she assumed from his look the last time she had been here. She knew better than to question him though; he was her master, for lack of a better term, and if she valued her job and her life she would give him whatever he required of her. He pulled away, and she found herself missing the feel of his lips and shamefully wanting more. She should not want this, she knew. What would her parents say? Oh, but life had dealt her a hand and this is what had become of it. _

_He didn't release his hold of her arms, she noted as he rested his forehead on hers. "What is your name little one?"_

_She was almost insulted, but knew better than to question him. "Caroline, milord."_

"_Well Caroline, I find that I can't get you out of my thoughts. You are a beautiful beacon of light, and I have thought of only you for the past two days." He paused examining her body. "What should we do about that, hmmm?" _

_His solution to his interest in her found them together on his bed, and she knew she should be afraid of him, knew that what was going to come she shouldn't want. But she did, and so she let him undress her, though he undressed herself. She tried to cover herself from his gaze once she was unclothed beneath him, no one had ever seen her like this, but he moved her arms away. "You're beautiful darling; don't hide from me." She had just met this man, so why did his words resonate within her? _

_He was gentle with her that first time, as though he sensed that this was her first time. Then, to her shock and relative horror, she felt his teeth, or was fangs a more appropriate word?, pierce her neck. She did not scream though, only letting a small whimper through her lips. She felt her body weakening, and she knew that this was the end. All the stories had been true, then. Vampires existed and this man was one. He pulled away though, much to her confusion, and she heard the tearing of skin before his wrist was before hers. "Drink up, sweetheart, before you die on me." _

_She did as he instructed, drinking his blood until he removed his wrist and replaced it with his lips. "Are you scared of me love?"_

_She considered him honestly for a moment. "No; I should be, I know I should be, but I can't bring myself to fear you."_

"_I find that I am glad. You intrigue me far too much, I would not want you to be afraid of me."_

_He spent the rest of the night showing her things she had never before known to be possible, and in the early morning hours he sent her away. He had bitten her several times through the night, always at the heat of his passion, and always gently, never taking as much as he had the first time. He healed her before showing her to the door and bid her good day. She was sure that this was the end of whatever relationship they had had. He had gotten what he had wanted, and that was the end of it. She had returned to her chambers to get some much needed rest after her nightly activities, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to come. _

_For she found that she couldn't imagine living without this man. _

_She tried to not think of him; nothing would have come fro a relationship between them anyway. And he wasn't even human! She shouldn't want him, shouldn't want more of what he had given her. All through the day she went about her normal work and imagined his hands on her body, his lips caressing her skin…_

_She had been imagining such things when, unwittingly, she walked past Niklaus' door. She almost screamed when a hand shot out and latched on to her arm, pulling her inside. "Wha-"_

"_Hush, you beautiful girl. It seems that last night was not enough to remove you from my mind." _

_He ravished her against the door, and she enjoyed it. She even enjoyed the feel of his fangs piercing her neck once more, glad that if he was going to kill her she would have been properly stated before hand. He didn't kill her yet again, though, offering her blood once more. "I can't kill you Caroline, no matter how much I feel that I should because you… you consume me. I can't imagine a world without your light. Forgive me for hurting you?"_

"_Of course milord." _

_He kissed her brow as he carried her back to his bed. "None of that now. You will refer to me as Nik."_

"_Alright."_

_They talked through the night, in between making love, of the world, art, literature, both avoiding talking about their personal lives. And she thought maybe, just maybe, there could be a future for them after all. He made her laugh, and she even managed to garner a few smiles from him. He never broke contact with her through the night, and she fell asleep in his arms, thinking that the moment she let her guard down he would take her life. She was surprised to wake up alive the next morning._

_Maybe even vampires needed to feel liked. And maybe she was good enough to warrant his interest. Only time would tell. _

**A/N: So there's the start of Caroline and Klaus's relationship; next chapter will be waking up the family! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this took so long! I call finals week and crazy workloads. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!**

********Rebekah never lived with the Salvatore's in this story, so she never heard about Klaus killing their mother from Elena, and I'm going to go with the story that Mikael killed Ester anyway; Klaus did not kill Ester in this story, carry on********

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

Caroline was excited; nervous, obviously, but excited. It wasn't everyday you met your boyfriend's family, odd circumstances not withstanding. She had liked Elijah too the few times they had spoken and she looked forward to getting to know him better. Rebekah was bouncing in her seat with the thought of seeing her siblings again. Nik had pulled the daggers out several hours ago, and they were all waiting in the room, blood bags at the ready. One coffin remained closed, and neither of the girls wanted to question it; they had gotten Nik to un-dagger Finn, Kol, and Elijah, and that would be enough for now. He could only be pushed so far after all before he wouldn't give them anything; if they asked about the fourth coffin, there was a very high chance he wouldn't release his brother's. The girls had agreed not to chance it; he was tentative about freeing them anyway as it was.

It was all very anti-climatic when they finally came to. They breathed in air and shot up. Caroline was a little disappointed; she was not ashamed to admit that she enjoyed dramatic things (she had even befriended Shakespeare, one of the highlights of her long life, but that was a story for another time). They were angry, though, as Nik had suspected they would be, but with the help of Rebekah they were calmed down in quick order and they had a semi-joyous reunion; Rebekah was the only one that accepted hugs from her brothers, though. Nik's face took on quite the comically affronted when it was suggested to him from Kol.

"And who's this?" Kol asked, his gaze finally landing on Caroline; she had stayed back wanting to give them time to get reacquainted and come to terms with what had happened, but she wanted to make sure Nik wouldn't lose his temper and dagger them all again. "She looks like a tasty little thing."

"Say another word and I'll tear out your liver." Gone was the contrite tone Nik's voice had held mere minutes earlier, replaced by a warning tone as he flashed in front of her and took a protective stance.

Elijah, ever the paternal figure, quickly took charge of the situation before Kol ended up daggered once more as Nik, Rebekah, and Elijah remembered exactly why Kol had been daggered in the first place. He could be an annoying nuisance and one of his favorite past times was riling Nik up. "Kol, Finn, this is Caroline. I've had the pleasure of meeting her already. She is Niklaus' girl, and I think you should realize by that statement that she is off limits. We don't need a repeat of Tatia."

Caroline turned her shocked gaze to Elijah, even as she wondered who this Tatia was; she didn't want Nik and Kol to be fighting, but she hadn't expected Elijah to jump in and actually take Nik's side in this; Elijah had as many reasons to be mad at Nik as all of them, perhaps more so because Nik had tricked and betrayed him. He approached her and took her hand and kissed it, much like he had when they had first met in the eighteen hundreds, both of them ignoring Nik's possessive growl at seeing his brother's lips on her skin. "Caroline, it is a pleasure to see you once more. I trust that you were the one to convince my brother to let us out?"

She smiled; he had always been astute; the educated one of the family, rarely resorting to violence. "I may have played a small part in your release. It's nice to see you again." Nik had moved to her side as they had been speaking, and he looked ready to pull out Elijah's liver now.

"Relax brother, history won't be repeating itself with this one. I would not take someone that truly loves you away from you." He winked at her, causing Nik's hold on her arm to tighten perceptibly, and she rolled her eyes at Elijah with a smile as she leaned into Nik; her and Elijah had an arrangement, not that she was entirely happy about it now, but it was the price she had had to pay to evade Nik for as long as she had when she had thought that she wanted to never see him ever again.

**Paris 1825**

_Caroline decided that she rather liked Paris; it was the first time she had ventured here. She supposed that that was due to a sense of misbegotten English pride, but she had managed to overcome her personal prejudices long enough to come to the city. She had gone through Britain one to many times in the past couple of decades, and the rest of the world held little appeal for her. She might have been able to like America, but she found she could not stand their practice of slavery and therefore found the whole country generally distasteful, as was the country's in fighting about the subject. Maybe she would return if they ever got rid of that abominable practice. _

_It was hard, though; being in the city where everyone and anyone was in love except her only served to remind her of what she could have had with Klaus had he been willing to feel… anything. She missed him, she realized in Paris, or maybe she was finally letting herself admit it; she had been so stubborn acting like their time together meant nothing to her, that she wasn't affected by it though she could barely bring herself to look at another man in that way; in any case, she missed him a lot. She longed to feel his arms once more around her, feel his lips press against hers, hear his voice whisper sweet nothings into her ear as they made love…_

_So she was very surprised when sitting in a café, she saw him and Elijah walking down the street. She pressed herself into the seat and shrunk down, hoping to evade their notice after the initial shock wore off; if Klaus looked at her, she would go to him and have her heart broken all over again; she knew that she wouldn't be able to resist. Klaus never turned to look in her direction, though, but Elijah did, and he locked gazes with her. She wondered if he would recognize her? Caroline had only been a servant then, though, so the chances of that were slim; she had caught Nik's eye however, so there was no way of telling. She considered running, but honestly, what chance did she have against an original? No, if he wanted to turn her over to Klaus, she wouldn't run, but she wouldn't go down without a fight either; she would show him that she wasn't pathetic little Caroline anymore-_

"_You are the Caroline my brother is always drawing aren't you?" She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts; she hadn't noticed Elijah come into the restaurant._ She wondered now why he had even bothered to ask; he had saved her from her father after all, even if she didn't remember it; he was an original, they made it their business to portray an air of knowledge.

"_Well, my name is Caroline and I know your brother, so I assume that I am. Won't you please sit down?" __**Breathe Caroline, deep breaths, that's it. Don't show him that you are afraid of him. He's an original, you can't show fear in front of him.**_

"_Does Niklaus know that you are alive?" He questioned, though they both knew that Nik had no idea of anything that had happened to Caroline after she left his estate. Though not from lack of trying on Klaus' part, but only one of the parties present knew that._

"_No, and if it's all the same to you, I'd rather keep it that way." __**Because if you tell him, I'll go to him and he will hurt me all over again. I can't go through that pain again; it's taken me this long to even be able to think of resisting him if he were near to me.**_

"_My brother has done little else but mourn you for the past centuries. You affected him terribly by your departure, killing all that dared to try to comfort him. He searched for you for years after your departure. I think he should know that he at least has a chance to make things right."_

"_He doesn't. He ruined things between us for forever. He won't get another chance with me; he broke my heart, and I won't give him that power ever again. If you leave here without giving me your word that you won't tell him, I will stake myself before you have a chance to."_

_His eyes widened in worry; she wondered why. She didn't think she had meant that much to Nik; it didn't matter, though. It was too late for them. "Alright, I give you my word. You can do something for me in return though."_

_She raised her brow, curious to what Elijah could possibly want from her. "Oh?"_

"_If you ever do let him back in your life, I'd like to get back at him for an old grudge. If you let me pretend to flirt with you, I'd be much obliged."_

_Well, she had no intention of letting Klaus back into her life, ever, so she figured that she could in good conscious agree to this deal. "Alright, if we are ever all together, you may flirt with me." __**What an odd request.**_

"_It was nice to meet you Caroline." Elijah said as he rose from the chair and walked out of the café._

_Caroline left the city within the hour._

**Present**

Caroline appeared to have eaten her words from so long ago. But, she had a deal with Elijah and he had upheld her end, so she wouldn't break hers. "I trust you not to Elijah. You are my brother, but I will not hesitate to dagger you again if you try anything with her."

"And we're back to the dagger threats already. Really Nik?"

"I'm serious Kol, Caroline is off limits to all of you in anything more than a friend or sibling respect."

Okay, now was the time for Caroline to be the voice of reason once more. "Nik, stop. They're your siblings, and you sort of daggered them. They're messing with you. I doubt they'll really try anything." She fixed Kol with her fiercest glare at that. A change in subject was definitely in order. "Finn, I happen to know a Sage who was rather missing you if you'd like to have me contact her for you."

"Sage is alive? Oh, it's nice to meet you!"

"Yeah, she's an old friend; I see her every so often. I have her number; I'll let her know that you're finally available." A call later and several almost fights between the siblings (mostly Nik and Kol if they were being entirely honest; in Nik's defense, Kol had made several lewd comments about her breasts, and she had been close to flaying the vampire) found everyone heading to bed with the intent of trying again in the morning.

"What was that about with you and Elijah?" Nik was not happy, she could tell; she had to admit, though, that his jealousy helped to reassure her that he wanted her.

She explained what had happened in Paris, a small smile gracing her features at his annoyed look. "I could have had you a full hundred years sooner if I had merely turned my head?" At least he didn't seem mad with Elijah at this point; she wondered what the morning would bring once the brothers where in the same room again.

"Yep. Your loss." She pursed her lips in thought. "I might have run from you though. It took me the hundred years and seeing you in Chicago to realize that I still wanted you." She said with a playful shrug.

"I would have caught you and proved it to you then. I wonder what we could have been doing all that time if you had just come to me."

Truth be told though, she had wondered the same thing; he would have left again for fear of her life though from Mikael, so maybe it had been for the best; at least in Chicago they had had a chance to work out most of their issues. "I have a pretty good idea." She said, backing away from him with a flirtatious wink, and her intent was very clear. _Chase me._

He stalked toward her, playing along for the time being. "Oh? Why don't you demonstrate?"

"I thought that was what I was doing." And then promptly shrieked when he caught her in his arms, kissing her firmly, and very effectively removing any thought of running from her mind. Why would she want to when she was in his arms?

He pulled away suddenly. "I'm sorry, Caroline. I never meant for you to hear me say that. I was wrestling with my feelings for you, but I shouldn't have said it in the first place."

"I forgive you, Nik. I forgave you in Chicago, especially after you told me you loved me." He kissed her again, and this time he didn't stop.

They became so absorbed in their… activities, that they didn't hear what was going on downstairs, but in their defense, neither did anyone else that was in the house until it was too late. A loud thud had Elijah downstairs, and soon the rest of the siblings followed (though by the state of their dress, everyone could tell what Klaus and Caroline had been doing).

"Mother?" Rebekah gasped, hand flying to cover her mouth as the rest of them stood in shock.

"Mother?" _Of course it would be Damon; it's always Damon. Because why would we assume he would want to listen to Stefan? _"She's your mother?" Caroline looked toward the voice and saw Damon, Bonnie, and someone she did not know standing by the now opened fourth coffin.

"I would be very careful what you say right now Damon; I suggest you and your witch friend and her mother leave my house before I don't let you leave it alive." Klaus spit out at hearing Damon's voice, never once moving his gaze from the woman standing in the middle of the room. They all waited for the click of the door before anyone spoke again.

Rebekah looked like she was on the verge of tears staring at her. "Mother, how are you alive? How is this possible?"

The woman approached her daughter and hugged her tightly to her. "Rebekah, your brother had my body preserved and the spirits let me come back. I want us to be a family again."

Caroline wasn't sure she trusted this woman at all; this was the woman who had cursed her son and locked a vital part of him? The woman who had slept with another man and managed to keep it a secret for twenty-three years? No, she was hiding something. And Caroline would not let her hurt Nik again, or any of her new found family. She would not lose him again.

**A/N: So, not very exciting, but definitely a vital moment. Next up the ball and Ester's plot. Next chapter should be up soon, but it depends on how busy I am during the holidays. I will try my best though!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews, and for continuing to read! Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate! This chapter is short just because I wanted to focus on the ball and I wanted to update. **

***Note: I'm operating under the assumption that all five of the originals had to drink the champagne to be linked and that if one didn't none of them would be linked.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 7**

Caroline held the dress Nik had delivered to her that morning up to her body, shortly before he himself had gone to get ready; the dress was beautiful, and exactly what she would have picked if he had told her that there was going to be a party and taken her to shop.

She sighed though; she didn't understand this whole idea of having a ball in the first place. It was the twenty first century for crying out loud! People didn't have balls anymore! Ester hadn't even been around when balls were in style. So maybe part of it was that she had never been to one either and she wanted the image in her head to remain un-ruined by reality; her gorgeous dark prince sweeping her off her feet and them living happily ever after. She hadn't ever been able to go as a servant though and when she became a vampire she didn't see the point without Nik; traditional balls were to find husbands, and she did not want or need one; she was waiting for him without really realizing that she was. Besides, as a servant, she wasn't sure if she would know how to properly conduct herself and did not want to bring undo attention to her self.

She hadn't told him of his suspicions about Ester; she didn't want to give him reason to mistrust his mother if it was unfounded. She would keep a very close eye on her nonetheless, though. Caroline would be the first to say that Nik had done terrible things in his long life; but she also knew that he was capable of incredible kindness. Not many saw it that way, though, and Caroline had a sinking feeling that Ester was one of the people that only saw the bad. She had cursed her son; a mother who loved her child wouldn't do that, and therefore Caroline could not believe that Ester had gotten over her idea that Nik was a monster.

The shrill chirp of her phone interrupted her musings, right when she had been about to start getting dressed, and she answered it upon seeing the number on the screen. "Stefan, what's up?"

"Caroline, hey. Elena got an invitation to the Mikaelson ball tonight."

Well, at least it sounded like the emotion was back in his voice, and that was a very good sign; no matter how much Nik seemed to like ripper Stefan, that version of their friend was very dangerous for anyone within the near vicinity that happened to be human. "Yep. Thanks to Damon's handiwork."

She heard him sigh on the other end. "Sorry about that. I tried to explain to him, but he can be very… petulant when he chooses to be."

"I noticed, but I don't blame you. I trust you Stefan." _But if something happens to Nik because of this, I will tear him apart. _

"Thank you. I wouldn't have betrayed you after saying that I would try. Damon was upset at me for returning the coffins without speaking to him first, and Bonnie had just figured out how to open the last one. Anyway, the back of the invitation had a request to speak to her from Ester. Do you think it's safe for her to go?"

She glanced around quickly, feeling incredibly like she was in one of the spy movies that was her secret pleasure (she was secretly in love with James Bond, but she would _never _tell Nik that), and covered the phone and went into the bathroom at his words, turning on the shower to mask his voice in case anyone was listening. "I don't know Stefan. I honestly don't trust her or her intentions. I don't think she would hurt Elena, though. Use her for her own purposes? Definitely, but I don't think she would hurt her."

"If Elena talks to her, do you think there's anyway you could make sure that she stays safe? If she wants to talk to Ester, no one will be able to stop her."

She rolled her eyes at him; _you and Damon are both vampires, I'm sure you can restrain one human girl_. Honestly! The brothers were so bent on keeping Elena alive, but they weren't willing to _protect _her. Nik had gone against her wishes to protect her (an unfortunate incident with some merchants when she worked for him that almost ended in her getting kidnapped and sold into slavery), but she was able to get over it, merely because he had protected her and it had shown that he cared for her. "I'll do my best Stefan, but I'm on Klaus' side in this. If it comes to her safety versus his, I will pick him."

"I understand that Caroline, and I respect it, I just want to make sure Elena stays as safe as she possibly can."

"I'll see what I can do. See you tonight."

"See you Care." She smiled at his old nickname for her; it showed he was really going to try this whole 'friend' thing, and helped her to trust that he had nothing to do with Ester's awakening.

She hung up and went back to getting ready, wondering what exactly she had gotten herself into.

"You look stunning love." She spun around at his voice behind her to find Nik looking very dashing in his tux, looking very much as he had in the twenties, once she was dressed; he had always had impeccable timing.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She said with a smile. "Though you picked out everything that I'm wearing so I can hardly take the credit."

He approached her but he still restrained himself from touching her. "Yes, well, you would look good in anything." He held out his elbow to her with a bow and a flourish. "Shall we?"

Caroline took his proffered arm, wondering if she should tell him about Ester, but deciding to refrain from it for the time being. "We shall."

The mansion had been transformed in the time that it had taken her to dress to… well the only way she could think to describe it was an old world ball. It was like stepping back in time, especially with the way people were dressed. It was actually nice; Caroline found herself warming up to this whole ball idea.

He swept her off to the dance floor after Elijah made a little opening speech and Ester made an appearance only to disappear once more. "I wanted to bring you to my birthday party that year you know."

"Really? Me, your servant mistress worthy of a ball? Perish the thought." He spun her back to him quickly, holding her closer than the dance intended.

"You were more worthy than anyone else there. I would have much rather spent the whole of the night with you. Although if memory serves you gave me quite a wonderful birthday present."

She blushed remembering what exactly had occurred the night after his birthday, even as she saw Elena switch partners from Damon to Stefan, though Klaus refused to relinquish his hold on her even though everyone else switched partners. "Yes, well if you had seen the temper tantrum I threw at not being able to be there with you, you would not have been so quick to bed me."

"I enjoy every part of you. The good and the bad."

"You keep telling me that and I'm not sure that I believe it."

"I guess I'll just have to prove it to you."

The dance ended and they moved off the floor, Elijah coming to tell Nik to mingle with their guests. Which gave her the perfect opportunity to follow Elena as she moved up the staircase.

Now she found herself pressed into a corner of room listening to Ester plot to murder her own children. _At least I got one dance before the murder plots began. _She waited for the pair to leave the room before she herself left in search of Nik. Where was that man? Why was it that whenever she wanted to find him he was nowhere to be found but at the most inopportune moments when she did not want him around (like that time when she was still a servant and she had fallen in the mud only to find her rescuer to be him; she swore she would die on the spot) he managed to be there?

"Caroline." _Thank you God if you exist! _For there behind her was the man that she was so desperately searching for. She turned toward him, to see him holding two champagne glasses. "Where'd you run off to sweetheart?"

"Oh, you know talking to people." She accepted the glass he offered her before stretching up to whisper in his ear. "Don't drink the champagne."

He gave her a nod when she pulled away, though he kept his smile firmly in place.

"Shower love?" He asked much later when everyone was gone and they were alone in their room. She knew what he wanted; he needed to know why she had told him not to drink the champagne and the best way to be sound proof without leaving and being suspicious was to use the water.

"Of course." She stripped the dress from her body after taking her heels off before joining him in the shower.

"What's going on Caroline?"

She quickly explained to him what had transpired that night, and the reason she had followed Elena as it was. He kissed her when she was done, surprising her. "You brilliant, brilliant girl!" He said, pulling away from her lips. "You just saved my sibling's and my own life."

"Well I do try. I don't want to lose you Nik, and I rather like your siblings."

"I'm glad. I plan on spending a good long while with you my girl, and no one will ruin that for me. Not even my mother. Now, we're naked and in a shower. I don't think we should waste any more time talking."

"I find I'm inclined to agree." Her reply, that she intended to sound blasé, was punctuated with a gasp at the end as his fingers found her core. She should save him more often if this was the way he planned on reacting she though wildly as he kissed her passionately and pressed her to the shower wall.

She found she rather liked playing the hero for once, even if she hadn't actually done much.

**A/N: Merry Christmas! I'll update soon with juicer more of cannon shenanigans. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, sorry this took so long to update! Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! Hopefully once I'm off vacation I'll be able to update more again.**

**Just a heads up, I plan on the next chapter being from Klaus' POV, and a part of Elijah's POV. So let me know if you want Caroline in there too.**

*******Just fair warning, there's more cursing in this chapter than I normally use**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 8**

Once upon a time. So many of the stories Caroline's mother had told her when she was a child had begun with those words. Some had happy endings, but it was the darker ones when the 'heroes' lost that she had always been partial to. Her mother always said that her problem was where everyone else saw the evil witch in _Hansel and Gretel_ being at fault for wanting to eat the children, Caroline felt that the witch, while not totally in the right, had to eat and the children _had _infringed on her home.

That idea never left her. Nik's means weren't always the best, and she didn't always agree with the things that he chose to do, but she understood what he was trying to do. He protected those he loved, and he needed no ones permission to do that.

But when he locked her in his room so that she couldn't be a part of his plan to destroy his mother (and quite possibly Damon) she was _livid_. She contemplated taking out one of the walls to the room; it would only further upset him, and will she didn't really care at the moment, she knew that he would somehow win whatever argument would break out between them. He needed to realize, though, that she could handle herself. She had been without him for almost five hundred years after all.

**Baltimore, Maryland 1890**

_She had been in the city for quite some time, and she should have noticed the telltale signs. People would disappear, always at night, and they were always found with bite marks on their necks, passed off as an animal attack. And then, as had happened in so many of the places that she had been to over the years, the town's elite formed a group dedicated to "protecting the town". That almost exclusively meant the eradication of vampire kind._

_So why the hell was she surprised when she was kidnapped (seriously, this needed to stop happening to her, there were plenty of other people in the world just begging for their chance to get kidnapped) by these makeshift hunters and shoved into a cage? Simple, really._

_After seeing Klaus in Paris, she had turned her emotions off. She couldn't deal with seeing him, the pain of knowing that he was probably just fine without her, or that he had probably had a slew of mistresses just like the girl that she had been. And it had been too much for Caroline. So, she had finally flipped the switch. _

_She killed hundreds of people in the ensuing years. Sometimes she didn't even feed on them, she just killed them. And then, one day she realized what she was doing, what she had become, and she went to the person who helped Rippers like her. Lexi. _

_She had rehabilitated her, helped Caroline get herself back. But that had all occurred within the past decade. She was still adjusting to __**feeling **__again, she wasn't as observant as she might have been otherwise been able to get out in time and avoid being caught._

_How ironic. The first man she let in who wasn't Klaus betrayed her and wanted her dead._

_Edward Johnson, son of the sheriff. With his red hair and brown eyes and lanky build he couldn't have been more dissimilar to Klaus. He had nearly managed to sweep her off her feet, make her believe that she could move on from Klaus after all the centuries she had spent pining for him. __**Maybe if you stopped thinking about him every ten seconds you could move on with your life.**_

_He had wined and dined her, and while he wasn't Klaus, he was… interesting. Maybe in a few decades she might be able to let herself love him. Once she forgot the image of Klaus in Paris that seemed to be on a constant loop in her head since she got her emotions back. _

_So when he invited her to a dinner party, she thought nothing of it. Thought he had no ulterior motives for the night. Until she tasted the vervaine-laced champagne. _

_The look of betrayal on Edward's face was almost enough to break her, but she was betrayed as well. She had thought that he cared for her, but one little (okay, so it wasn't that little, but it was still a part of who she was) problem with her and he threw her into a cage like she was an animal. At least he didn't seem to know how she could walk in the sunlight, and she was thankful that she carried more than one Lapis Luzuli stone on her. The stakes to the arms and legs though? Wasn't that a little much?_

"_Caroline, Caroline, Caroline. And here I thought I knew you so well. I thought we would marry, have children, never keep any secrets from each other. But you were keeping a secret, weren't you? That you were a monster walking among men." Edward's voice broke through the haze of pain that enveloped Caroline. She wasn't sure how long she had been here, but he returned every few hours to torment her some more. _

_She tuned him out. She had finally managed, little by little, to ease the stake in her one arm out of the ground. If she was going to act, now would be the time. With a painful tug, she ripped the stake out of the ground, freed her other arm, and hurled one of the stakes at her former suitor. And then she pounced._

_Lexi would assure her that what happened wasn't her fault. She was delirious with pain, hunger, and betrayal. The only one who could be blamed for her actions was Edward. _

_She near on drained him, but angry Caroline wanted revenge. With a will power she didn't know she possessed, she pulled her fangs from his neck and ripped her own wrist open, forcing him to take in her blood. And then she snapped his neck._

_Edward was now the one thing that he hated._

So yes, Caroline was more than capable of taking care of herself. It might take her longer to get out of situations than Nik, but she always managed it somehow. How dare he go and confront his mother without her? When she was the one who told him about her plan in the first place?

She needed to calm down she realized. Yes, he was obviously wrong for locking her into the room, but his reasons for doing it were good. He had thought her dead for centuries, and his mother, he had explained, hated him with a passion. Nik had driven a wedge between Ester and Mikael, and Ester would never forgive him for that. And she wouldn't forget the things he had done as a result of her turning him into a vampire (Caroline failed to see how any of this was _Nik's_ fault). Maybe he feared that Ester would realize she couldn't kill him because her plan to link her children had failed, but she could kill Caroline.

Caroline just didn't want him out there feeling as though no one loved him. She wanted him to trust her and allow her to be there for him. And she would be, she determined. She would stay far enough away so that Ester wouldn't notice her, but close enough to comfort Nik.

She was about to try ripping the door from the frame, but it opened before she got there. "Nik." She breathed, relief flooding her that Ester hadn't found another way to kill him, as she rushed into his waiting arms. She could reprimand her for locking her up later, right now she just needed to feel his arms around her and know that he was all right.

"Caroline, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have locked you in here. All I could picture was your dead body in my arms-" Caroline interrupted him by kissing him passionately. She hadn't expected an apology from him, and it wasn't until her spoke that she realized she had been worried about the same thing.

She pulled away after several heated moments. "I forgive you, just don't let it happen again. Now, what happened with your mother?"

In response he picked her up and set her on their bed before sitting beside her. "She fled when she realized that we couldn't die."

Caroline moved into his lap and rested her head against his shoulder. "We'll find her Nik. Everything will work out in the end."

"How do you stay so hopeful? You amaze me love." He smiled down at her as she looked up at him. "Oh, Sage arrived. I'd tell you to go say hello to her, but I have a feeling that Finn and her are a bit preoccupied."

She returned the next day from school to find him painting again. Maybe it would make him more receptive to the question she was about to ask him, but she wasn't sure; he was a thousand years old after all, and he wouldn't want to spend time with a bunch of teenagers. "Hey Nik!" She greeted with a smile; as long as she kept him happy, he might just accompany her.

He turned briefly to face her and flash her a smile before turning back to his painting. "Hello sweetheart. How was school today?"

"It was all right. A little awkward. Bonnie and Elena were none too happy about their little plan not working. Stefan was fine, and Matt was too concerned about Rebekah to care. " She paused, biting her lip. "Umm, there's also a dance tonight that I completely forgot about that Rebekah planned, and it's twenties themed, and I was wondering if you would be my escort?"

He turned to fully face her at that. "Caroline, you know I love you, but I don't want to go to a high school dance. I still have my mother to be worrying about, and Mystic Falls' history with dances isn't the best. Can't we do something else tonight?"

"No, that's fine. You should look for your mother, I'm going to go to the dance for Rebekah's sake at least." She was crushed; she had hoped that he would join her. He didn't fight any more on the point, merely nodded his head and wished her a good time.

Well she would have a good time, with or without him, she determined as she set about getting ready. The red dress she had decided to wear reminded her of the dress she had been wearing when she had been reunited with Nik. God that felt like forever ago.

Why couldn't that stubborn hybrid just go to one dance with her? She thought it would be nice, reminiscent of the time when they had rediscovered each other. The twenties were both of their favorite decade, so why couldn't he do this for her? They had been apart for centuries; neither of them had gotten to ever do things like this. Normal couple things. Okay, so they weren't normal, not by a long shot, but a part of Caroline would always want simplicity. And a boy to take her to a stupid dance just because he loved her and wanted to have good memories with her.

She needed to stop. She just needed to go out and have a good time; her life shouldn't revolve around him. The knock on the door broke her out of her reverie, but the door swung open to reveal Rebekah who took in Caroline's facial expression with a quick look. "Is Nik being an ass again, Care?"

"Oh you know. The almighty hybrid cannot be brought to escort his girlfriend to a stupid high school dance, so."

"Well, his loss. You look amazing. The guys won't be able to keep their hands off of you." Rebekah said with a conspiratorial wink as she pointed her finger to her ear.

Ah, so he was listening in was he? "Well if that's true I suppose my night won't be lonely." _Run_, she mouthed. There was a very good chance that Nik wouldn't let them out of the house after their cajoling, and they were going to that dance. Good thing they were vampires.

Caroline and Rebekah entered the school gym to find it already near packed. Matt came quickly after they arrived and swept Rebekah out onto the dance floor leaving Caroline alone on the sidelines watching the other happy couples.

"Caroline." The voice that sounded next to hear shocked her, and she turned to find none other than Tyler. "No Klaus her to guard you?"

As he had spoken, he had laid a hand on her arm, clearly restraining her from leaving his side. _The nerve of some people! _"Hmm, nope. I can take care of myself." And with that she applied subtle pressure to the hand he was holding with her other hand, in what passerby would only see as a loving gesture, but what made the hybrid flinch visibly in pain. "Why are you back here Tyler?"

"Well this is my home. I refuse to be run out by some pretentious asshole and his bitch of a girlfriend." Tyler said pushing his body closer to hers as he tried to get her to remove the hold she had on his hand.

"Oh, so you bite me and try to kill me, but I'm the bitch? Let's not forget who's sired here." Okay, so that one might have been a _little _below the belt, but really? She was _so _done with this boy. She pushed him back into a less noticeable place, so if the need arose she could hurt him at will. He didn't seem to notice in any case.

"And yet you're the one who 'loves' him. How could you fall for a guy like that?"

"Listen little boy. I've seen and done things that you cannot imagine. Do not think for a second that you can lecture me on who a proper person to fall in love with is. Oh, and so you're aware, he's ten times the man you will ever be."

"And here I thought you were going to enjoy the company of other men tonight. Thank you anyway darling." Caroline and Tyler both turned to find Nik, decked out in twenties regalia, standing in front of them.

_He came! Sure, because he was jealous, but he came! _

He held out a hand to Caroline and she stepped over to him but ignored the outstretched hand. _Still angry at him. He should have come with me in the first place. _He ignored her resistance though and grabbed her hand, tugging her body protectively behind his own. "When did you get back in town mate, because I don't recall giving you permission to leave in the first place; and I definitely don't remember telling you to hurt the woman that I love. Poor move on your part."

"Well, maybe it's because I'm not one of your sired little bitches anymore."

Caroline rolled her eyes at that one. _Nice move, giving up your own advantage._

"I wouldn't be so sure about that one. You see, I don't exact revenge on people right away. I start by killing their families and then letting them run for centuries before I put them out of their misery."

"What did you do to my mother?"

"Nothing, yet." Nik said, a faint smirk dancing on the corners of his mouth. "Maybe I'll turn her into a vampire and have one of my hybrids bite her so you have to come crawling to me for help." And just like that Tyler was no longer in the gym.

"Must you always prove that you're the alpha male?" Caroline questioned as she tore her hand from his grasp and crossed her arms over her chest.

He faced her. "I don't have to prove anything love. I _am _the alpha male. Dance with me?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but accepted his hand anyway and let him lead her out onto the dance floor. "What made you change your mind?" She asked as he spun her around, and for a moment she let herself believe that they were really back in the twenties.

He pulled her into him and rocked her back and forth. "I couldn't let my girl go to a dance without me. Not when she was so obviously angry with me; angry enough to try to make me jealous again perhaps. And I shouldn't have shot her down when she asked me."

"No, you shouldn't have. It was probably incredibly important to her that you take her."

"I know, I just—I'm new to this whole 'relationship' thing. Sometimes I forget that her desires are as important, if not more so, than my own."

Well that made sense; more than her theory that he didn't want her anymore. Caroline was tired of this; tired of being angry at him, tired of doubting him. "Well, I'm sure she'll forgive you if you promise to take her to prom. And maybe next time you two should talk before getting angry with each other."

"I'm truly sorry Caroline. Will you go to prom with me?"

She giggled in excitement. So they were sticking around long enough for prom were they? "Wouldn't dream of going with anyone else." And then she kissed him and he kissed back, and all was right in their little universe again. Until Stefan came rushing over to them.

"We might have a problem."

**A/N: Hope you liked that! I'm going to be mixing the end of season three with what's happened in season four just to get things leaving a little more. If there's a specific backstory you want from Caroline's life, I would really like to have your input.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay so this chapter is going to be completely flashbacks again and from Klaus and Elijah's POV. I haven't decided if Klaus will be desiccated or not yet next chapter. I'm not sure it fits with where I'm going with this so next chapter might take a little longer to get out while I decide that.**

*******Serves as a short of companion chapter to chapter 5, chapter 1, and the story behind Elijah saving Caroline from her father **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 9**

**Klaus' POV**

_He had been alive for a long time. So long, in fact, that he rarely found things in life anymore that he considered beautiful; cities, art, music, literature, sure, but people had ceased to be able to render him speechless. That was until __**she **__appeared into his life._

_Until that point, Klaus hadn't remembered what sunlight felt like without the help of a daylight ring. She was sunlight. And he hated her for it. _

_It was easier before he met her to be alright with what he was; he was a monster and light couldn't touch him. But she walked in, and though her status was beneath him, he knew that she was better than he had ever been or would ever be. And, perhaps worst of all for him, he never wanted to leave the light that emanated from her. _

_He wanted her forever. Which was exactly why he had to kill her._

_He would not allow himself to feel anything for the mortal girl. Everything he cared about was either ripped from his life or left him of their own free will. He could scarcely bring himself to feel anything for his siblings; he loved them yes, but they were so bent on being reckless that he had to push his feelings aside and do what was best for them. _

_But he supposed he could get a little enjoyment from the girl before he ended her life. _

_Still, even though his decision had been made and there would be no going back on it now, he decided to wait for the human to be sent to his chambers once more. If he never saw her, there would be no reason to remove her from this life. Two days passed and he thought of little but her. _

_How he waited to run his fingers through her long blond locks, kiss those tempting lips, taste the even more tempting blood running through her veins. And he fantasized about her whole body would feel pressed against his own. It was all rather annoying, actually. He was supposed to be focusing all his energy unto removing the curse that was upon him, and instead he was acting like a love struck adolescent. _

_And then she came again to his chambers. He made no move as his inner voices conflicted with one other; a part of him wanted to end her life and another very small part wanted to give her everything just as long as he got to stay in her presence. When she turned to leave, he flashed to the door and slammed it shut before spinning her around to the wall next to the door. Then he did what he had been dreaming of doing; he kissed her._

_He kissed her and for the first time in five hundred years he felt alive. _

_Klaus pulled away from those succulent lips though he wanted more and removed his hands from her arms; he realized though that after finally touching her, he had to keep in contact with her, so he rested his forehead on hers. "What is your name little one?" And he laughed internally at the ire that flashed in her eyes; she was a spitfire, he could tell, though she hid it well behind her servant's mask. _

_And then he heard her voice for the first time. "Caroline, milord."_

"_Well Caroline, I find that I can't get you out of my thoughts. You are a beautiful beacon of light, and I have thought of only you for the past two days." He paused examining her body. "What should we do about that, hmmm?"_

_He wanted her. Every part of her. And he still hadn't decided if he should end her life or not. But he led her to his bed as he traced kisses across her face and down her throat as he undressed them both, surprised that she did not fight or protest his actions. The girl- Caroline, he corrected himself- wouldn't, shouldn't, have known he was a vampire, but the girls of this time were generally unwilling to give into him without a little more seduction. Caroline might have been thinking of him as much as he thought of her. _

_He finally got them both completely undressed and had her body pressed into the mattress when she tried to cover her body from his gaze that raked over her form. He moved her arms away sensing that her sudden modesty was not because she didn't want him but because she did not see the beauty he saw. "You're beautiful darling; don't hide from me."_

_He made love to her gently, something he rarely felt the need to do. But she deserved it. He trailed kisses across her skin and prepared her body for his entry with his fingers and his tongue before he finally entered her. When he reached his peak, he couldn't control himself anymore. Her blood smelt so good and the sound of her accelerated heartbeat was intoxicating. He slipped his fangs into the skin of her neck, and though he felt her body tense and heard a small whimper escape her mouth, she again made no move to stop him. Klaus felt her heartbeat weaken as he continued to take away her life force and he continued on intent on removing the distraction from his life, but found to his horror that he could not imagine living without her presence in the world. _

_He couldn't kill Caroline._

_He extracted his fangs from her neck before tearing them into the skin of his wrist and pressing it against her mouth. "Drink up, sweetheart, before you die on me." __**Though that was exactly what I wanted to happen mere hours ago. **_

_She drank his blood and he relished at the feel of her lips taking blood from him. "Are you scared of me love?" For so long he had wanted people to fear him, needed it to stay alive, but he did not want her fear._

_He watched as she scanned his face, nervous to how she was going to answer. "No; I should be, I know I should be, but I can't bring myself to fear you." _

_And he sighed in relief at her response. _"_I find that I am glad. You intrigue me far too much, I would not want you to be afraid of me."_

_He spent the rest of the night showing her things he had learnt in his very long life to pleasure a woman, and in the early morning hours he sent her away. He had bitten her several times through the night, always at the heat of his passion, and always gently, never taking as much as he had the first time. He healed her before showing her to the door and bid her good day all the while trying to come up with a plan to have her in his bed once more. _

_In the end, she came to him. Well, she walked past his chamber and he recognized the sound of her breathing (a necessary survival skill he was most grateful to have). He reached out and grabbed her before shutting the door. "Wha-" she murmured confusedly._

"_Hush, you beautiful girl. It seems that last night was not enough to remove you from my mind."_

_He ravished her against the door that time, unable to take her back to his bed so desperate was he to feel her against him once more. Klaus heard her moan in pleasure when he pierced her neck again with his fangs and he growled in approval. He didn't kill her yet again, though, offering her blood once more. "I can't kill you Caroline, no matter how much I feel that I should because you… you consume me. I can't imagine a world without your light. Forgive me for hurting you?"_

"_Of course milord."_

_He kissed her brow as he carried her back to his bed. "None of that now. You will refer to me as Nik."_

"_Alright."_

_They talked through the night, in between making love, of the world, art, literature, both avoiding talking about their personal lives. And he thought maybe, just maybe, there could be a future for them after all. She made him smile for the first time in centuries, and he enjoyed being able to make her laugh. He never broke contact with her through the night, and she fell asleep in his arms to his surprise; surprise that she trusted a monster such as him with her life. _

_Maybe letting someone in wasn't as bad as he had imagined it to be. All he knew was that he couldn't let Caroline out of his life._

**Elijah POV**

_He was looking for the girl that his brother was so obviously in love with, though the stubborn fool would not admit it, even though he was supposed to be looking for Katerina. Her life was more important than revenge against the doppelganger, though Klaus would not admit to that either. _

_In fact, the feared original had said little since the servant girl had been discovered missing. Though he had drained quite a few townsfolk, and forbade Elijah from using magic to find the girl; perhaps his brother was afraid that he would find she was dead. _

_Elijah went to Caroline's hometown. He did not know the circumstances of her departure, but assumed she would try to go there first. Not every set of parents was as cruel as his own, and, from what he had seen of her around the manor, she did not appear broken like his siblings did. Which was why he was surprised to find her father torturing her. And then he sensed it. She was no longer human. And he had to make her safe so when his brother was ready he could see her again. _

_He didn't kill William, though he wanted to when he saw the light that was what attracted his brother, but he did threaten him. Then he took Caroline, the necklace his brother had given to her, and took her to a place where she could learn to control her urges before compelling her to forget the torture her father had inflicted on her. Then he left to rejoin Klaus, but he checked on the girl throughout the years, always waiting for one of them to ask about the other. _

_Klaus did, and Elijah told him that he had saved the girl from her father's wrath, but he left out that she was one of them now; Caroline had run for a reason, and whatever that was needed to be fixed before Klaus ran after her. _

**Klaus' POV**

_He endured centuries without her, never able to bed another woman. He mourned for her, thinking she was dead and that he was the reason why she was gone from the world. Imagine his surprise when he saw her across the club, perfectly fine, except that she was obviously a vampire, and he drank in the sight of her like a man dying of thirst even as he marched to her side. He couldn't let her escape from him again._

**A/N: So there's that, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you'd prefer Klaus to be desiccated or remain un-desiccated, keeping in mind that if he does I'm putting him in Tyler's body like they did on the show, either in review, message, or tumblr message just so I can get a general consensus of what you would like to happen.**

**And also, if anyone really talented would like to make me a cover poster I would be really, really grateful and I would sing your praises all over tumblr and stuff.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you for all your feedback last chapter, you guys are awesome and I love you all! I'll do another Klaus flashback chapter, going into more details about the twenties and everything he did to protect Caroline from that point on to the present storyline. **

**This chapter lines up with what happens in 3x20 when they are all in the classroom together, but with the addition of Caroline. I'm not going to focus super long on that part since you all know what happened.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 10**

_"We might have a problem."_

Caroline could count the number of times that statement had led to a good thing on one hand. Which was exactly why her heart filled with trepidation at Stefan's statement and his worried glance. Could she not just have a few days with Nik without something interrupting?

"What's wrong Stefan?" Nik asked the question they were both wondering even as he pulled her unconsciously closer to him.

"Your mother's back, and no vampires can leave the school grounds. And she has Elena."

* * *

"She does this all the time right?" The boy Bonnie had brought, Jamie, Caroline was almost sure that was his name, asked as Bonnie tried to get them out of the school so that they could save Elena.

"What's taking so long? All boundary spells have a loophole." Nik interrupted before anyone could respond.

The door swung open with a bang to reveal Matt. "People are walking right out of the school and past the boundary."

"Well if Matt and I can leave, we could stop Ester ourselves. Alright, we just got to find out where she is." Jeremy's worry for his sister was very evident, and Caroline understood his need to go and try and rescue her. Even if he didn't have the means to do it himself. A human against a thousand year old witch? He wouldn't stand a chance.

"Suicide, Jeremy." And Stefan seemed to agree with Caroline at least.

Then Nik, being Nik, rushed and grabbed Jamie by the neck and started choking him. "Suicide would be disappointing me. Now work your magic witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy."

"Nik!" Would he ever realize that threatening people was not always the best way to go about things? "Put him down!"

"Let him go!"

"Not until she gets us out of here Caroline. You see, I've learned that the only way to get you people to do what I want is to threaten those you care about."

"Don't be stupid Klaus. Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us the only reason she's helping right now is to save Tyler and her mother. You start killing people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell." Caroline hoped Stefan's words would work. She knew that right now all Nik wanted to do was find his mother and kill her, but he acted too rashly sometimes. But he listened and released his hold on Jamie.

Bonnie walked over to the wall and ripped down the map. If they couldn't leave, they could at least find where Ester had Elena and send Matt and Jeremy to do the best they could to save her.

"Here, Jeremy made a little Gilbert blood donation." Damon walked back into the room holding out a vial. "You can use it for your locator spell."

"I really have to do this will all of you lurking over me?"

"You're still mad at me for what happened to Abbey. Let me apologize. I'm sorry Elijah forced to turn your mother into a vampire to save Elena's life. Didn't exactly have a choice."

"Nik?" Caroline questioned in a whisper from her spot next to him.

"Ester was channeling the Bennett line through a mother and daughter since that gets the most power. Elijah wanted Damon to cut off that power supply in return for Elena's life. Rebekah doesn't really like her. And no, love, I wasn't in on it."

"There's always choice Damon. Whenever you make one, someone else suffers."

Nik pushed away from the wall he was leaning on and stalked over to Bonnie. "Let's cut the dramatics and begin, shall we?"

Bonnie tore the vial from Damon's hand and poured the blood on to the map as she began chanting, Stefan leaving the room in a flash. "Ester's fighting me."

"Ester couldn't possibly have that much power unless she's channeling something."

"Like a hot spot?" Caroline spoke up from behind the three crowded around the desk.

He turned to her with a small smile before turning back to Damon. "Get the humans ready. I know where she is." Then he left the room with a quick "Watch the witch." as Damon followed him out.

* * *

**Klaus' POV**

"You know this is your fault Damon. If you had never let my mother out, we could be out there killing her and saving your precious Elena."

"We stopped her once Klaus, we'll do it again."

"Yet somehow your words are not comforting Stefan. If Caroline is hurt by any of this, it will be on your head. Friend or not, I will kill each and every person that had a hand in causing her to be hurt."

"So the big bad really is capable of feeling something for someone other than himself. I'm almost impressed." Damon said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I will kill her if she gets in the way of Elena's safety."

This... child needed to learn some respect. And realize that if he touched a hair on Caroline's head he would destroy Damon's life. "Does it bother you that I can have love and you can't? If Caroline is hurt, Elena's safety will no longer be an issue. So I suggest you put your efforts into protecting the both of them."

"What do you think is going to happen to Caroline anyway Klaus?" Stefan spoke up before a fight could break out.

"My mother wants to hurt me Stefan, if she can't kill me. That makes her the best target."

* * *

"How can you feel anything for him Caroline? Did you see what he did to Jamie just because he thought he wasn't getting his way?"

"Bonnie, I've loved him for five hundred years. I know why he does things. You saw anger in his actions. You know what I saw? I saw a man who was terrified of what his mother could do. To him, to his siblings, to me. Sometimes, you have to look deeper than what is outwardly being portrayed. He's not an easy man to love, but he's never hurt me Bonnie." Okay, that was a half- truth. Feeding hurt a little bit, but after the first time Caroline had found it rather pleasurable.

"I'll take your word for it." She paused, chanting some more before stopping. "The boundary is down. Let them know."

They found the three men outside of the school, all looking a little tense. "It's done. Ester stopped fighting me."

"Well. Let's go put an end to her then, shall we?"

It turned out that their assistance in Ester's demise was not really needed. Alaric took care of that. It seemed Nik had been hiding things from her again, and now Alaric was a vampire in transition, and there was an indestructible white oak stake.

But life went on. Alaric didn't want to complete the transition and become what Ester had planned for him; a vampire hunter like Mikael, except his sole purpose in life would be to destroy all vampires. Including his old friends. Including Caroline, which was why Nik almost killed him right there, but she pulled him away and convinced him to let Alaric die in peace and not give the rest of them any more reason to hat him, especially when they had that stake in their possession.

And morning found her cleaning the school gym with Rebekah. "I'm going to get some more towels."

Rebekah nodded in her direction as she walked out. "Alright."

She walked into the hallway only to find herself pushed into the lockers by "Alaric?"

"Looks like I'll get to kill some vampires today." The white oak stake was pressed to her chest before it was torn away and Rebekah pressed him into the lockers. Caroline speed over to help her, but when they pressed the stake into his heart nothing happened. So they did the reasonable thing and ran.

"Get Nik, Rebekah!" Caroline yelled as she ran in the opposite direction, hoping that the hunter wouldn't follow her. She got to her car, but in her nervousness fumbled with the keys, giving him the chance to catch up to her, though she could hear the sizzling of his flesh from the sunlight, and break her neck.

* * *

**Klaus' POV**

He was painting while he waited for Caroline and his sister to return. It was about time they got out of this town; he didn't trust Damon not to hurt Caroline after his threats last night, and he had allowed her to take him home without taking the stake with him.

"Nik!" Rebekah rushed into the room and he whirled around to face her. "Alaric's alive and he has Caroline at the school."

"You left her there?" He roared as he contemplated breaking her neck for her stupidity.

"He has the stake, there was nothing I could do. We tried to stake him, but it didn't work! What if he hurts Caroline?" Her worry for the girl he loved calmed him down; Rebekah wasn't doing this for revenge he assured himself. Alaric was dangerous.

"Let's go talk to the witch and see if we can't convince Damon and Stefan to help us."

* * *

Caroline woke up to pain. Pencils through her hands and a vervaine doused rag around her mouth seemed to be the cause of that. "Ah, she awakens. The little vampire whore. Do you think your prince charming will come and save you?"

Tears slipped from her eyes. Whichever way this went, she hoped that one of them wouldn't end up dead that day.

* * *

"If I can figure out the desiccation spell that Abbey used on Mikael, I might be able to put Alaric down."

"If and might, your words inspire such confidence." He needed to _know _that Caroline would be safe, not have some vague reassurances.

"Why should we help you anyway?"

"Because Damon, I get my girl back, and I leave Elena alone. Caroline dies, and I kill Elena. Is that clear enough for you?"

"What my brother is trying to say is that it's in your best interest to help us."

He shot Rebekah a glare. "As she said I suppose."

None had noticed that Bonnie had gone inside until she came back out. "I have the spell. Let's get going."

"This is my blood. It will tie you to me so that I know when to preform the spell." Klaus, Damon, and Stefan all took sips of the offered blood. "You'll have to place your hands as close to his heart as you can."

They all nodded their understanding before going into the building.

* * *

"I'm going to stake you. You know why? It will hurt Klaus. And then he'll kill lots of people and no one will be upset about me killing him."

Caroline trembled. _If ever there was a good time to save me, this would be it Nik. _

"You lay another finger on her, and it will be the last thing you ever do." She turned her head sharply toward the voice, _his _voice, and was relieved. Of course he would come and save her. Didn't he always?

"Now why would I want to kill the one person in the world that seems to love you unconditionally? No, I'm not going to kill her. You are."

Nik laughed, and Caroline had to admit that she felt like doing the same. Except for the vervaine rag that burned her throat with every breath. But did Alaric really think that he would ever kill her? "I would never, and I don't know what makes you think that I would ever do such a thing."

"Well, you see it's simple really." Alaric stalked closer to her, stake in hand, wide smile on his face. "Either you kill her or I take her someplace you won't ever find her, not that you will because the second I see you I will kill her, and I will torture her. Mercilessly. I won't give her blood to heal. I might even bring in a few of your hybrids to bite her. By the end of that, she will hate you anyway. So you can kill her now while she still loves you, and she'll consider it a mercy. What do you say Klaus? Have we got a deal?" With his question he held out the stake to Nik, while she pleaded with him silently to fight. Not to let Alaric win this one. Not to let his father or his mother continue to ruin everything good that ever happened to him.

He took the stake into his hand. Caroline closed her eyes so that she wouldn't see him killing her. She could imagine that it was Alaric. Nik would never hurt her. "Caroline, I love you. I'm so sorry sweetheart. You deserved so much better than me." She let the tears she had been holding in slip down her face at his words and wished that she could return them. Tell him she loved him, that she forgave him, and that he was the only man who had ever had a hold on her heart. The shattering of glass and the unmistakable grunts of fighting and falling made her open her eyes to see Nik standing in front of her as he pulled the pencils from her hands and then removed the rag from her mouth. In the background she saw Damon and Stefan holding Alaric down as his skin greyed. Nik pulled her into his arms and stroked her back as she started sobbing in earnest. "Shhh, it's alright. It's all going to be alright."

"You were never going to do it were you? It was just to distract him?"

"Of course love. You really think I could ever hurt you like that or let him take you from me in any way? No, you are mine and I will let no one hurt you ever again. Now, lets get you home and get some blood into you. Stefan?"

"We'll bring the body to your place."

Damon walked over to Nik and held out his hand. "Truce?"

Nik looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"I never thought that you actually cared about her. I thought you were using her to get to us. I guess seeing how you were so concerned about her made me realize that you might not be as bad as I always thought. If you stop trying to hurt Elena."

"Nik I think you should tell them now." Caroline finally spoke again as Nik looked down at her in exasperation.

"Tell us what?"

"I only need Caroline and my family. I have no use for any more hybrids, especially not after what Tyler did to her. Elena is free to live her life as she chooses." And with that he shook Damon's, and then Stefan's, hand.

She was proud of him. He was doing a lot to prove how much he cared about her to make up for everything that had happened between them. At the end of the day, they would both know that they had each other. And he was seeing that people could warm up to him when he wasn't a complete brute.

"Okay, this is beautiful and all, but I could really use some blood." All the men laughed before the headed out of the building that Caroline was sure she _never _wanted to see again.

**A/N: So I changed some stuff for strictly thematic purposes, and I know I said this would take us into season four, but I decided against it; this is the last piece that win follow canon and there will probably be only like one or two more chapters. After this, well there isn't much use for what happened so far in season four and everything is sort of mostly resolved. I've never written Alaric before, and I love him, but for the purposes of this story, and because at this point he was Evil Alaric, I hope it worked. **

**I hope you enjoyed the back and forth perspectives. I think it worked well just with everything that was going on in this chapter anyway.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you all for your reviews last chapter! I'm going to do a few flashbacks, and then have an epilogue. **

**Okay, so this has fluffy Klaroline from when she was a servant and then dark(ish)!Klaus (I hope).**

**Caroline's part is set several months after they sleep together for the first time, but before Katerina arrives.**

**Klaus' part is when he finds Caroline gone from the manor, in detail.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned the Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 11**

**Caroline POV**

_Caroline was sick. And she was trying her best to hide it. Servants who couldn't perform could be let go, and she wouldn't have a chance to tell Nik before they sent her away. _

_But she was miserable. Her head was swimming, and she felt as though the entirety of her stomach would come up at any moment. She just wanted to close her eyes for a moment so that the feeling that she was about to faint would go away and she could do her job._

_She had been sent to clean the library by herself, punishment for showing up late to work the morning before, courtesy of one very insatiable vampire, and she thanked providence, for the first time in a very long time, for the small mercy that no one would be there to witness her trying to calm her rebelling body. She could just sit in one of the chairs for a moment…._

_She only woke because someone was softly shaking her shoulder. Caroline opened her eyes reluctantly to gaze into the face of Nik. She gasped, remembering herself and realizing that she must have fallen asleep, jumping up, but the action almost made her collapse from the dizziness that she still felt. Luckily, he was there to catch her. "Are you alright love?" He asked as he gathered her into his arms, and she leaned into his comforting embrace._

"_I'm fine-" but she trailed off with a moan as she clutched her stomach. "I think that I may be sick."_

_He lifted her effortlessly into his arms, and if she had been well she would have scoffed at his show of strength, before he sped her to his chambers. "Nik, I have work that I'm supposed to be doing!"_

_He laid her on his bed, touching her brow tenderly as he shook his head at her. "I will inform Martha that I needed you to do something and to send someone else to clean the library. You need to rest."_

_They had spent several months together by this time, and Caroline had seen many sides to him. She'd seen his passionate, angry, sad, and closed off. But she had never seen him like this. Had never seen him as nurturing or caring. But he pulled the covers over her and tucked her in like she was a child, and it was then that she saw it, the worry in his eyes._

_Nik was a vampire. And he was used to being able to fight off any threat to those he cared about. He wasn't used to illness, she realized. So, though she thought that she wasn't __**that **__sick, she would do what he wished to ease his mind. She closed her eyes and let herself drift once more._

_She woke to the feeling that she was about to throw-up. She flung the covers back and rushed to the chamber pot, emptying the contents of her stomach. Cool hands secured her hair from her face, and she leaned back into him; she was sure he hadn't been in the room when she awoke, and through the haze of sickness, her heart soared that he had been so concerned as to rush to her side. Once she was sure that she was through, she rose on unsteady legs, clutching his arm tightly, and offering him the best smile she could. He walked her to the bed and sat her on the edge before rushing away, only to come back with a goblet of wine that she gladly took to get the foul taste out of her mouth. He was still looking at her with that look of concern that was so out of character for him and who he was, and she sought to reassure him. "I'm fine, honestly I feel better for having emptied my stomach."_

"_I don't want you to do anything that will put you at risk." He paused for a moment, turning his gaze from her, and said his next piece in a whisper. "I can't lose you."_

_It was in that moment, his whispered words ringing in her ears and eliciting a small gasp from her mouth, that she finally allowed herself to admit that she had fallen for him. And she had fallen hard. But he was a vampire, and when it came down to it she was just a human servant and she could not expect any kind of future with him. He would use her until he grew bored, and that would be the end of it. Well, that was what she told herself at least. Really, she whished that she could be more to him. That he would let himself love her. Maybe even turn her so that they could be together forever. Caroline wasn't sure if that was what she wanted, to be what he was. To feed on humans, possibly killing them. Walking the earth knowing that almost everyone you met would someday die. And what if he grew tired of her after turning her? She would be doomed to be forever alone._

_He had climbed into the bed next to her while she was thinking, and pulled her bod against his. She welcomed his embrace; there was something so comforting about being in the arms of the one you loved. And she really did feel better. "What are you thinking about?"_

"_You." She admitted, though that was all that she would admit to at the moment._

_He looked down at her and gave her a soft easy smile before bending his head down to place a kiss on her forehead. "I'm glad.' _

**After Katerina's Escape**

_She wouldn't remember the words he had spoken that day, _"I can't lose you.", _when they mattered the most._

_The funny thing about life was that no matter how many times someone made you feel cared for, wanted, a few careless words could erase all of that. Nik had told Elijah that vampire didn't feel, that they didn't care, not knowing Caroline had been close by. Not knowing how it would crush her. Still, she tried to show him that she was valuable, tried to show him that opening his heart wouldn't make him weak. The opposite really; she had always felt it cowardly when people refused to care because they were afraid of the consequences. _

_But when Katerina had fled the manor, and he had gone into a rage, leaving for a week, only to return covered in blood, Caroline wasn't sure even she could stick around and be the object of his wrath. He never laid a hand on her, but she feared him then, more so than when he had been about to drain her. Furniture was demolished left and right, servants killed without a second's hesitation. The walls dripped red. There was no one left to clean them. That time period was odd. He refused to show anything other than hate, or rage, but he basically gave her the position of lady of the manor. The one time he had found her trying to clean one of his messes, he had gone into such a rage that they were all forced to move onto one side of the manor. He had knocked whole walls down._

_Finally she had had quite enough. So the girl had gotten away. He couldn't have everything he wanted, and he needed to deal with that. She wanted __**her **__Nik back. The one that made sweet love to her while murmuring sweet nothings into her ear. The playful one that would sneak up on her and scare her while she was doing her chores. The mischievous one that kissed her in alcoves and hallways where any passerby could see them. She didn't want to see him slowly destroy everything that he had attained in his fury. _

_She found him in his new chambers, next to hers. Before his rage, she had spent nearly every night in his bed with him. It was weird to have him close and yet so far. In any case, she was walking to his door, when she tripped on the rug, crashing her body into the glass he had broken against the wall outside his room. She cried out in pain as the shards entered her skin, and his door was flung open. Caroline found herself lifted into his arms (was this their thing?) and carried into his room, set in a chair instead of the bed. Nik ripped the dress from her body before going over every inch of her skin and pulling out any glass that had lodged itself there. It wasn't like… well it wasn't like him. Normally, he would have taken the opportunity to feel her body, kiss the wounds as he had done with her bleeding knees, all the while chastising her for being so clumsy, but this time he acted like a doctor would toward his patient, cold and detached as though he didn't actually care about her. _

_When he had removed the last shard, he bit into his wrist and pressed it against her mouth, and she took his blood into her system. Once her wounds had closed, he left, only to return with another dress for her to put on. She was disappointed, she had to admit; they hadn't had sex since the night before Katerina left. __**Katerina. All my problems can be traced back to her.**_

_Nik turned away as she dressed, and when she was done, she went to him laying a hand on his shoulder. "Nik, it's going to be all right. Talk to me, tell me what's wrong so I can help you."_

_He turned around, effectively removing her hand from him, fury clear in his eyes. "I don't want to talk to you Caroline. I don't need you to understand, and I don't need your help or your pity. Or you."_

_She ran from the room, trying to hide her tears. She went into her room, slamming the door behind her and flinging herself on the bed, finally letting her tears flow freely down her face. _

_Several hours later, her tears finally stopped. A look at her window showed that night had fallen. Caroline steeled her resolve, took a look around the room, and slipped out and down the stairs as quietly as she could before exiting the manor. Then she ran. She had never run so fast in her life. The trees cut and whipped her, but she did not stop. _

_Sometimes you had to love from a distance when the person you loved didn't want you as you wanted them. _

_She was proud of herself in those moments. She had been strong enough to leave him, no matter how bad it had hurt her. And he didn't need her anyway, so why should he come after her? Caroline decided to give herself a moment to rest with that thought. He wouldn't come for her, so she could stop running. And what would he do if he found her anyway? Kill her or take her back to the manor. She wasn't sure which option seemed worse. _

_She didn't know what she would do now that she was back in the real world, where she would go. Her father had basically told her never to return, and she could not in good faith marry a man when she was no longer a virgin. She had been ruined, and no man would want her. The only thing left for her would be to become a prostitute, and she could not even stomach the idea of such a thing. Maybe she should aim high and become mistress to the king. And maybe Nik would see her and be jealous and she could have some sort of sick revenge for the hurt he had caused her._

_She could probably just find some other lord to be a servant to, and this time she would not let herself be seduced. _

_Caroline suddenly found herself tackled to the ground. __**Did he actually come after me? **__She wouldn't care if it was to spew more angry words at her at this point, he had come after her! But the person who flipped her over was not her Nik; it was Katerina, and there was a murderous glint to her eyes. "I was hoping to find Lord Niklaus and exact my revenge against him, but you will do little whore. I know how he cared for you." And fangs were ripping into her neck, tearing the skin in a way Nik never had. She hadn't realized until that point how gentle he had been with her. She closed her eyes and let herself drift._

_She woke up, alone in the forest thirsting for something she could not identify. And then she remembered when he had told he how vampires were made when she had asked._

"_**One would have to have vampire blood in their system when they died. Upon waking, the person is in transition and can choose to complete it by drinking blood within a day."**_

_So she would have to drink blood if she wanted to live. As a vampire. And walk the earth alone. She wouldn't do it, she decided. She would not live forever knowing that he had never cared for her. Knowing that in the end, she had been another foolish girl that had fallen for the pretty words of a rich man and let him take her to his bed; he had only ever wanted her because she had given in so easily to what he wanted. _

_Caroline was quite sure about that. She sat under a tree, letting herself absorb the last rays of the sun, trying to ignore the dull ache in her jaw and the dryness in her throat. She would die that day, and she would enjoy what last minutes on earth that she could. _

_That was, until a hunter came through the woods. He had cut himself with his knife, and she couldn't control herself. The smell of blood was simply too tempting for her to resist. Her fangs protruded, tearing through her gums, and she drained the nameless man dry. _

_She cried when she finished, for the man whose life she had ended and because she would be this forever. A murdering monster, all alone in the world._

**Klaus' POV**

_He left the manor when she left his room, not believing his mouth had spewed such lies. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, that was why he had been avoiding her. But the servants were all gone, and Elijah was off looking for Katerina, and there was no one but her to lash out at anymore. He was only thankful that he hadn't physically hurt her. He would never have forgiven himself if he had. _

_He went hunting, afraid if he stayed he would hurt her more. The look of absolute devastation on her face had nearly crushed him. He drained person after person before, for the first time since Katerina had left and all his plans had gone to waste, the rage dissipated. Oh, he still wanted to find the doppelganger, that was for certain, but he wasn't as angry anymore. So, he went to another town and found a jewelers, bought a bracelet for her of what looked like infinity links, an unspoken desire to be with her forever, and then found someone selling flowers, purchasing a good many. They would not make up for how he had treated her, but it would be a start. And he vowed to himself that he would get her to forgive him, not matter what it took. _

_He reached his ruined estate, and took the stairs two at a time, racing down the hall to her door, and knocking lightly. She did not answer, but that was to be expected. He had hurt her, and she wouldn't want to talk to him. But he just… he had to apologize. Even though it pained his pride to do so. She had become his whole world, and he would deface himself if the need arose in order to keep or make her happy. "Sweetheart, I just want to talk to you quickly." He hoped she would sense the difference in his voice, and be more accepting of him as he pushed her door open. "Caroline?" The bed was made, though the hour was still early, and she was obviously not in the room. He dropped his presents on the floor, racing through the manor, hoping she was somewhere there. His search only confirmed what his heart had suspected when she had not been in her room. _

_She was gone. And he would not search for her. Because sometimes loving someone meant you had to let them go, especially when you had caused them nothing but harm._

**1920's The Club**

_His eyes drank her in for the first time in centuries. She had obviously been turned if she was still alive, though her light that had attracted him was still there, still calling to him, and he felt a pang go through him that she hadn't come to him, though he understood why she hadn't after his horrible words on that day. He was jealous of Rebekah's new boyfriend standing next to __**his **__girl though as he marched across the club, his sister hot on his heels. And that brought a whole slew of jealousy and anger, because she couldn't have been alone for four hundred years. Not when she probably hated him for his actions; any emotion he had managed to get her to feel for him had probably left the moment his cruel words left his mouth. _

_Just because he understood why she had left didn't mean he was ever going to let her leave again. "Klaus, Rebekah, this is my new friend Caroline."_

_He watched as she took him in, eyes lingering on the necklace he knew was poking out above the collar of his shirt. "Klaus, it's been a long time." If seeing her had brought him back to life, her voice brought him to heaven. He was stung by her cool tone, and that she called him Klaus, but he would accept whatever she was willing to give him._

_He narrowed his eyes at her, though, because all she could say was that it had been a long time when she had left him? Without a word. He ha __**mourned **__her life, and all she could say was that it had been a long time. "Indeed it has sweetheart. Tell me, how are you still alive?" His hand had grabbed her arm as he spoke, afraid she would vanish from his life once more. _

"_Katerina got to me and killed me. Your blood was still in my system, and here we are." She motioned with her free hand to the both of them, and he felt simultaneously angry at the doppelganger for hurting his girl, and joy that he had not lost Caroline forever._

_He began to pull her through the club, and she did not try to stop him to his surprise. __**Not that she would be strong enough to fight off me. **__All he knew was that he needed her. If she was going to leave his life again, he would show her how he felt about her, even if he couldn't say the words out loud._

"_Rebekah, go home with Stefan tonight. Caroline and I are leaving." He threw over his shoulder at the couple who barely nodded in his direction, too lost in each other to care. _

_He pulled her into the alley behind the club and picked her up in his arms, flashing her to his apartment in the city. He threw her gently onto his bed, ripping the dress from her body. She returned the favor, shredding his clothes, as he pressed his lips to hers feverishly. As though each kiss, each touch would be their last. And it very well could be. Neither of them said a word as they made love to each other. He lavished her body, placing hot, openmouthed kisses to every inch of her body as he slipped his fingers inside of her, only to be replaced by his tongue when he finally got there, tasting her for the first time in far too long. He hadn't slept with anyone else since she had left; he had tried while he was feeding, but he had felt like he was tainting her memory and he couldn't allow himself to do that. He felt her orgasm ripple through her, her walls clenching his tongue, and he pulled away, crawling back up her body, staring hotly into her eyes as he entered her roughly in a way that he had been afraid to do when she was merely human. _

_Neither of them said anything when it was through and he slid out of her. He finally broke the silence though to ask her one question. "Why did you leave me?"_

_She smacked his chest, barely earning a glare from him, before she unleashed her fury. "You didn't want me Klaus!" She spat at him, annoying him again by calling him Klaus instead of Nik. "I loved you, and you told me you didn't need me. I couldn't live like that anymore. I wouldn't." She tried to get up when she was finished with her little speech, and he found himself momentarily unable to move at her confession, but his arm finally heeded his mind and snaked around her waist and pulled her under him once more._

"_It's Nik to you my beautiful sunlight girl. I was angry; I didn't mean any of it. I will always need you." He entered her once more, more gentle with her than he had been before. He said nothing of her confession, unsure that he should return her words just yet, wanting to show her with his actions instead. _

_He didn't let her leave his home for the next week, taking every opportunity to make love to her. "I'm making up for lost time Caroline." He explained when she questioned him. He expected her to be gone at any moment, and he would get as much of her as he could before that happened and he went another four hundred years without her light in his life._

"_Have you been with very many men?" He asked suddenly when they were eating dinner one night. He wasn't sure that he could go on with this not knowing thing. It hurt him imagining her with other men, and he figured it would be better to know how many rather than torture himself by imagining man after man sharing her bed._

_She looked up in surprise at him and shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't been with any men Nik. Not since you anyway."_

"_Oh. I haven't been with anyone since you either." He said it casually, but inside he was beaming. She had been, and she always would be, only his. And he would be only hers._

_He finally explained to her why he had been so upset over Katerina's disappearance, apologizing for how he had treated her, and finally giving her the bracelet he had carried for the past four centuries. _

"_Where did you get this?" She asked as she examined it on her wrist._

"_It was worn by a princess almost as beautiful as you." _

_She gave him a look, and he laughed. "I bought it."_

_He decided to date her properly after that; she deserved that much he reasoned, and there was no reason to keep their relationship hidden in this day and age. They spent their time with Stefan and Rebekah, hitting clubs. Dinking, feeding, dancing, having fun. He took her to restaurants and plays, intent on showing off his beautiful girl._

_Klaus' father came in and ruined all that, as he tended to do whenever he was beginning to get too happy._

_The shots had rung out rather suddenly, a bullet almost hitting Caroline, and he growled in anger in the direction of the shooter. They thought for a wild second that it was only the police busting the illegal alcohol den; but the bullets were wooden, and they both knew that they had been discovered since that could only mean one thing (what police officer would shot wooden bullets at humans?). He grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her to a relative safe location behind one of the pillars. "You need to run Caroline, as fast and as far as you possibly can. I will find you, one day, when it is safe." He pressed his lips to hers quickly, chastely for once in their relationship, and turned to run and collect his sister before he spun back to face her. "I love you." He breathed, shocked that he had finally admitted it, but needing her to know it._

_It was torturous, knowing that she was somewhere in the world, and he could not go to her for fear of Mikael harming her. He had to break his curse; he had to kill his father so that he could be with his family and Caroline again._

_He sent some of his most loyal followers to watch out for her; he was terrified that someone would kill her. It seemed his fear was not misplaced, for she had quite a few run-ins with vampires and werewolves. He always sent someone to save her, and sent them with a piece of jewelry. He imagined that it was his hands, his mouth, where the trinkets laid against her skin, and that was a comforting thought._

_He had done it though. After centuries of searching, he had found Katerina's descendent, and he could finally remove his curse. "Did you get a vampire and a werewolf sweet?" He asked the witch as he walked into the cave into the cave, only to halt at seeing her. "Caroline? What is the meaning of this?" The witch that had entered with him tried to speak, defend herself- she had grabbed the first vampire she had seen like he had told her too- but found herself quite suddenly without a heart._

_He tore the chains from her wrists and cradled her to his chest as he stroked her hair. "Are you all right sweetheart?"_

"_Fine, she just vervained me Nik." The weakness in her voice though was enough to tip him off that the witch had used quite a lot of vervaine on Caroline. He carried her out of the cave without another word and flashed her to the hunter's apartment. He took in her shock at seeing Katerina, who he had found at coming to the small town, and he would have his revenge on her for her betrayal. "Nik?" Caroline asked, looking up at him from his arms._

"_Don't worry about her love; just exacting my revenge for her betrayal of me." She nodded and he carried her into the bedroom and laid her tenderly on the bed. "She will not hurt you again my love, I will let no one hurt you again."_ _He offered his wrist to her, and he almost moaned at the feeling on her fangs sinking into his flesh; he knew that she would heal eventually, but his blood would speed along the process and ease his mind. H had cradled her to his chest once more as she drank, and he savored the feeling of her body in his arms. _

"_Nik, who was after us in Chicago?"_ _ She asked the question he had known would come eventually, and he decided that he would keep no more secrets from her. She deserved to know why he had had to leave her._

"_My father; but he was not after you lovely. He was after me, but that was why I had to get you out of there as fast as possible. If he knew about you he would use you against me." _ _**And he would kill you**__, he thought as he tightened his hold on her. His father would not take Caroline from him. He wouldn't let him._

"_Is he still alive?" She questioned, fear evident in her voice_, _and he felt an almost irrational twinge of anger that Mikael had made her afraid, his girl who wasn't afraid of anything._

_And his pride was not happy that he hadn't managed to get to Mikael. It had always been Mikael finding him and almost killing him, never the other way around. "Yes, but when he is finally gone, we will really be together forever."_

"_You're going to leave me again?"_ _His heart nearly broke at her question and he didn't want to. But he knew he had to._

"_Only until I am sure that you will be safe." He said firmly finally grabbing her lips for a passion filled kiss. "I have to go do something love, and then I will be able to destroy Mikael. And then we can be together with my family. Stay here please, love, until I come back. I would not leave you like this if it was not important."_ _He left the room; no matter how much he wanted to have a proper reunion with her, he had to complete the sacrifice so that she would be safe. He would not lose anyone else. Especially not her._

_It took him two days to return to the apartment; his curse had been lifted and he hadn't wanted to change back when he had been in wolf form. He had almost forgotten about her, but it was the thought of his mate that had made him change back in the end. He returned with Elijah at his side, glad that she had heeded his instructions and not left the apartment, even if the company was rather unsavory, before he turned surprised to see Stefan in the apartment._ _It was a shame that his old friend could not remember him; he had missed their conversations and their easy camaraderie. He daggered his brother after hearing Stefan's reason for being there, to save his own brother; Elijah's temporary sleep was a small revenge for plotting to murder him, and at the same time fulfilling his promise to reunite Elijah with their other siblings. Just not in the way he had thought he would. He was keeping him safe in the only way he knew how. He was so afraid of losing them to Mikael_; _if he could, he would dagger Caroline as well to keep her safe and alive. It was selfish, and a part of him cringed that this was what he had become, but he had lost too much_

_Stefan asked him for a cure for the werewolf bite his brother had acquired; and Klaus decided a bit of a demonstration was in order as he bit into Katerina's arm with his now fatal bite and then revealed that his blood was the cure. And then he decided that he missed the old Stefan, and decided to force him to become a ripper once more, only for Caroline to protest, but he shot her down with a mere glance. He had an end game, and this was who he was. Though a part of him hated not hearing her out about their friend. He just couldn't risk having his authority questioned in front of not only Stefan, but Katerina as well. _

_He saw Stefan eyeing Caroline curiously as he tour the cap off the blood bag Klaus had offered to him. "How can you be with him? He's a monster."_

_She was about to answer, he saw her mouth open, and the angry squeezing of her hands, but he decided to take care of this one. "She is none of your concern mate. If you want the cure for your brother, you'll leave her out of this." The message he was trying to get across was very clear; she was Nik's and not to be messed with. _

_Hours later, when Katerina had fled once more and Stefan had been sent to meet him by the docks he had pulled her back to the bedroom and made sweet, torturous love to her and when he had gotten up to leave he had pulled her to him and placed several kisses on her waiting lips. "I will be back, and then we will be together. Stay here so I'll know where you are this time."_

_That would have to be enough for now. Would this always be their lives though; to be reunited for several heated moments only to be separated once more? "Don't take ninety years to find me this time Nik."_

_He smirked as he pulled away from her, and he did not try to hide the sadness that he had lost so much precious time with her. "Wouldn't dream of it my beautiful sunlight girl."_

_He went searching for werewolves to turn into hybrids like himself with Stefan, but once again, his plans failed. And now Stefan remembered him, his sister was awake, and he was headed back to Mystic Falls. He threw around a few threats when he got to the high school, angered that the doppelganger had somehow managed to survive, when the doors flew open. Everyone in the gym stopped what they had been doing on their arrival, and he turned toward the girl who would always hold his heart. _

_Caroline followed Rebekah as she dragged Tyler to the gym. "Nik, look what I found; this werewolf thought he could put his hands on your girl."_

_Caroline was there and his world was complete once more. He smirked as he walked toward them, but he was fuming on the inside that despite him calm demeanor he was fuming. "Is that so? Tell me, what made you think you had any right to even look at her?"_

_The boy took a moment too long to respond and he was very suddenly being forced to drink Klaus' blood before his neck was broken. He then calmly explained to the witch Bonnie that if she didn't figure out how to make his hybrids survive her friend would die and that she had twenty minutes to complete that task, amplified when he compelled Stefan to kill Elena after those twenty minutes were up as well. Then he went to Caroline and lifted her into his arms and carried her to his car. "Can't stay out of trouble can you?"_

_She raised her one of her eyebrows at him. "What would you be useful for if I could?"_

_This time, they made love in the backseat of his car, a first for both of them which made it all the more enjoyable. "Are you going to leave me again Nik?"_

"_Yes, but I'll be back sooner this time sweetheart. I'm going to find werewolves, and I can't have you with me getting hurt."_

_He left that night after finally receiving his answer on why his hybrids had not worked before, but not before giving her a final goodbye kiss and asking Rebekah to stay with her and make sure that she didn't get into any more trouble; and in no uncertain terms that if Tyler dared to ever touch her again he was to be killed. She was his, and the wolf in him could not stand the thought of anyone else touching her. _

_He now knew how to successfully make hybrids, and he needed to build up an army to protect him and those he cared about. That was, until he received a call from Rebekah. It seemed Damon, angered by Stefan's lack of humanity in general, though he now remembered Caroline and was the least hateful of the entire group according to his sister, and that Elena had almost lost her life had threated Caroline the night before homecoming. He told her that he would be there the next night and he would escort Caroline to the dance. It seemed they needed to be taught a few manners. _

_Little did the three of them know that the Mystic Falls gang had other plans for the evening. _

_Plans that were essentially doomed to failure, but plans none-the-less. _

_He searched the party for her and could not find her until one of his hybrids came up to him, informing him that a Mikael requested his presence in the front. He rushed there, hoping that his father had not managed to find the one person who meant everything in the world to him._

_But he had. He watched as his father deposited her into the arms of one of his hybrids, apparently compelled by Mikael, and had taken Elena into his own as he threatened him. Klaus was unconcerned with the doppelganger, though. He could lose her and be fine. He could not, would not, lose Caroline again. Ever._

_In any case, the night ended with the Scooby Doo gang's, as Caroline and Rebekah had taken to calling them, failure and Mikael finally being disposed of, and Caroline being safely ensconced in Nik's arms, and he breathed again. They would never have to be apart after this, he had promised after all. And though he saw love as nothing more than a weakness, his beautiful sunlight girl had made him feel that loathsome emotion; the one thing he had sworn he would never feel again after Tatia. They were yin and yang, but they had been fated to meet and change each other. For though he would always be the fearsome Niklaus, Original Hybrid, he was her Nik. And though she was Caroline Forbes, peasant and servant, she was his beautiful sunlight girl._

_They did not rest much that night; they pleasured each other straight through till morning. They were finally free to be together; free of Mikael's shadow looming over them threatening to destroy what little happiness they had managed to find with each other_.

**A/N: Confession time? When writing Stefan and Rebekah, I almost wrote Stebekah. So yeah. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for all the love for this story!**


	12. Epilogue

**First off, I am so, so sorry that this took so long to get out. I really had no idea what I wanted to do with the epilogue, and I just let the time get away from me. And to be honest, it ended up shorter than I wanted it to be.**

This chapter isn't just going to focus on Klaus and Caroline, it will focus on all of the originals, but I won't be bringing in any plot lines from season four.

Epilogue

Things in Mystic Falls calmed down after all the drama blew over. And it would go on to lose all the vampires that inhabited it at for so long, most choosing never to return for one reason or another.

Caroline insisted that they attend Alaric's funeral; no matter what he had done, who he had become, he had still been a good man, and she would support the people who had loved him.

They left first, all of the Mikaelson clan, with the addition of Caroline. It was over, their time in Mystic Falls, and it was time for them to move on. They no longer had any reason to stay there, and their continued presence only served to make both Damon and Stefan nervous, not to mention Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy, or the council that now knew their identity and had not so casually threatened to remove the problem (the only reason they survived that encounter was Caroline who stayed Klaus' hand). And Klaus was concerned about Caroline and her mental state after her ordeal with Alaric, though she remained her positive self through it all.

Caroline and Klaus decided to go on a tour of the world together. They were ready, they wanted to see the places that once they had to experience on their own. And a part of them needed a normalcy, to live without the need to look over their shoulders. To just be happy with each other.

And everything wasn't smooth sailing, when was it with them? But they were together, and they were determined to try. It wasn't everyday you found the person you were supposed to be with for the rest of your life, and they couldn't lose each other.

When Klaus proposed, the only person who was surprised was Caroline. It wasn't because she didn't think he wanted to spend the rest of their eternity together, but she had never thought of him as the marrying type.

He played it off as him wanting to show the world that she was his and only his, but she was ecstatic at what this step meant. How big of a leap he was taking for her. Without any hesitation she said yes.

They were married in England, where they had first met, opting for an outdoor wedding instead of a traditional church one. Neither of them felt very comfortable going into a church at all, and nothing about any part of their relationship could be considered traditional, why should they start now?

When they read their vows, and he took the ring from Elijah she almost gasped in shock. For the ring that he slipped over her finger was the ring from her childhood that she remembered her father giving to her mother, though it wasn't common practice at the time. Caroline had loved the ring as a child, always asking her mother to see it, to hold it, to see if it would fit her finger yet, and she had thought the ring was lost to time. Seeing it again, not knowing or caring how he had found it, brought back more happiness than she had thought was possible. It was like her parents really were there with her once more. And for the first time, the ring fit.

Elijah also went traveling, but without any clear destination or goal. When he was reunited with Katherine, they entered into what Kol called, his interest in modern culture becoming quickly apparent, a friend's with benefits relationship. Or when Elijah wasn't present to dagger him, nothing more than fuck-buddies.

Kol went back to New Orleans eventually, a city he had frequented in the past, falling in with a group of witches, as he had done in the past. Bonnie eventually left to the city herself to join family, which happened to be the same group of witches that he had joined with, and she and Kol took up a relationship with each other after some time had passed.

Finn and Sage disappeared for several years, with no contact to the rest of their family at all, to the annoyance of Klaus, and because of his frustrations everyone else felt much annoyance towards the couple, returning much later with children that they had adopted together. The rest of them all welcomed the chance to be aunts and uncles, though Klaus was hesitant at first. He warmed up to Henrik and Deborah, though, and spoiled them rotten, much to the frustration of Finn and Sage who had tried to keep life simple for their children.

Rebekah and Stefan rekindled their relationship as well, not telling anyone about it for months, before Kol walked in on the unsuspecting couple. And he, being Kol, felt the need to call the rest of his siblings and tell them of the development. Much to the displeasure of whoever happened to answer the phone to Kol's graphic details.

They met up every once and awhile, mostly at Caroline, Rebekah, and Sage's insistence, though Caroline could say with all honestly that she would rather Katherine not be a part of their lives. There was no lost love between the pair.

Life would never be easy for the group, nor was it without its dangers, but for the first time in their lives, they could all say with real honesty that they were happy.  
**  
A/N: Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this. It started out as a one-shot, and I never intended for it to get this far. You've all been wonderful readers and reviewers, and I'm so sad to end this.**

Thank you again!


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